Ranking the 3 worst World Cup TV promos since 2001
The ICC World Cup (WC) is one of the most-watched events in the world. Millions of fans from across the planet tune in to watch the matches live. Even with digital streaming slowly taking over, the majority of the fans still prefer watching matches on TV.
The broadcasters for the World Cup pay an enormous sum of money to the ICC to secure the rights of telecasting the event live. To ensure that the date and time of matches is known to maximum number of fans, the broadcasters create ads to hype the event.
This year, Bollywood celebrity Shah Rukh Khan featured in one of the classiest WC ads ever. The English tagline for the event is "It Takes One Day". The promo received a lot of praise from fans.
However, the ICC and the broadcasters have not hit the bull's eye every time when it comes to ads. Here's a look at the three worst WC promos and ads since 2001.
#1 ICC WC 2019 promo - Crown Cricket Ka Madam Ji Hum Le Jaayenge
The 2019 World Cup was a memorable event, where England defeated New Zealand via boundary count in an intense final to win the trophy for the first time. India, Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, and Bangladesh were the other eight teams in the tournament.
Just before the mega event, the official broadcaster aired a commercial, which featured an Indian man named Vicky who worked at a palace in the UK. He took off his formals and started dancing in his Indian jersey in front of the queen.
Vicky also had a small toy, resembling the WC trophy in his hand. Soon, the other men in the palace, including a cook and a bodyguard, also came out wearing jerseys of other teams and started fighting for the trophy with some hilarious dance moves. Not many cricket fans enjoyed the promo.
#2 2019 WC promo featuring Andrew Flintoff
The creative team of the 2019 WC disappointed the fans a lot. As mentioned earlier, the official broadcaster came up with a tagline - 'Crown Cricket Ka Madam Ji Hum Le Jaayenge'.
The ICC prepared an ordinary promo for the mega event as well, where former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff just wandered around on the streets in the UK, singing a song, with fans joining him.
Compared to Shankar-Ehsan-Loy's 'De Ghuma Ke' from 2011 WC and 'Bob's Beat' from 2015 WC, this was a major letdown for the World Cup theme.
#3 ICC T20 World Cup 2022 promo featuring Dardanapur
The official broadcaster did a phenomenal job while preparing promos for the T20 World Cup in 2021. However, in 2022, they could not match the expectations of the fans. The creative team came up with an idea of a city named Dardanapur.
A young lad takes the fans through the city, where the people do not get hurt despite putting their fingers in a hot vessel, getting their fingers stuck while closing a van's door and a brick falling on their hand.
However, the people started crying when India lost to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2021. While some fans liked the concept, it was not probably the best ad prepared for a WC match.
The broadcaster has prepared another impressive horror theme ad for ICC World Cup 2023 featuring Shehnaaz Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli. Fans on social media platforms have liked it a lot. You can watch the clip above.