Adidas’ Lightest Ever Football BootMessi and Villa Launch adidas’ Lightest Ever Football Boot Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, 11th May 2010 — Today, adidas football superstars Leo Messi and David Villa proudly presented the F50 adiZero; adidas’ lightest ever football boot, during a speed themed event at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The revolutionary new boot weighs an astonishing 165 grams* and features industry-leading technologies, making it the lightest and fastest adidas football boot ever made. Lionel Messi will be the first player to wear the distinctive chameleon purple, white and electricity colourway during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The FIFA World Player of the Year says, “I am amazed at how light the new F50 is; I can barely feel them on my feet. Speed on the pitch is a really important part of my game and wearing the world’s lightest boot will hopefully make me faster and enhance my performance during the most important games of the year!” David Villa, who will wear the black and sun version, added “Speed is such an important part of my game and I am so excited about being even faster when I’m playing in South Africa against the best in the world in just a few weeks time.” The need for speed in modern football has never been greater, where millimetres or a fraction of a second can make the difference between winning and losing. adidas has responded to this athlete request by reinventing the rules of speed and turning the iconic F50 boot into the lightest adidas boot ever made. Aubrey Dolan, Senior Product Manager for adidas Football comments “Players like Lionel Messi and David Villa consistently told us they wanted boots that would enable them to be faster. Players wanted to be first to the ball, so we decided that the best way forward was to make a lightweight product which could be used at the highest level.” The F50 adiZero will be worn by players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The chameleon purple, white and electricity boot will be worn exclusively by Lionel Messi with Steven Pienaar (South Africa), Jozy Altidore (U.S.A), Shunsake Nakamura (Japan), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Arjen Robben (Holland) and Lukas Podolski (Germany) wearing the sun, black and collegiate gold colourway and David Villa (Spain), Samir Nasri (France), Jermain Defoe (England) and Johan Vonlanthen (Switzerland) wearing the black and sun version. The boot will hit retail on May 24th 2010 in all adidas Sport Performance stores, as well as at leading e-retailers and selected sports retailers around the world. HOW IT WORKS / THE SCIENCE The F50 adiZero has been revolutionised, incorporating the industry’s lightest fabrics and leading technologies to reach the ultimate weight of 165 grams*. To achieve the target weight, the boot has been developed on a lightweight last which offers a wider footbed and heel to distribute forces optimally throughout the boot – which is critical in a lightweight product. *165 grams at UK size 8.5 The sleek new SprintSkin upper has been created using an innovative single layer microfibre Polyurethane (PU) synthetic to reduce the overall weight and to ensure the shoe fits like a second skin increasing the comfort of the boot. The F50 adiZero uses asymmetric parallel lacing which creates a large, clean kicking surface for optimal ball contact while a perforated Ultra Light insole has been developed to reduce weight and increase speed. The innovative new last is complemented by a new exclusive Sprint Frame outsole which is crafted using three-dimensional bridges to create stability and support in the midfoot. Taking inspiration from a running sprint spike, the outsole features a new revolutionary triangular stud configuration which provides maximum acceleration and optimum support for the critical lateral and medial movements. Football is not only about straight-line speed. To add stability and to support the player, the upper features an internal network of Thermo Polyurethane (TPU) bands, as well as a single TPU bottom frame on the boot which offers stability and support in the lateral and medial movements and protects the upper against abrasion providing a sleek, stylish, iconic look. Today, adidas also launches the stunning new film ‘Fast vs. Fast’, a 90-second spot which tells the story of two of the world’s greatest and fastest footballers, Lionel Messi and David Villa, in a speed meets speed race where the players battle each other armed with the same weapon: the new adidas F50 adiZero football boot, the lightest and fastest boot adidas has ever made. The film splices live action with animation to become the ultimate portrayal of speed, using a variety of in-camera and post-production techniques including multiple speed changes in one frame. Film noir, graphic novel and Japanese anime techniques come together in a rallying cry for adidas’ forthcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup™ campaign. It builds on last year’s The Spark campaign, which featured Zinedine Zidane and introduced Lionel Messi as ‘The Spark’. Zidane and Messi reprise their roles, joined by Spain’s Euro 2008 winner striker David Villa, who takes on the role of ‘The Blaze’. ‘Fast vs. Fast’ begins with narrator Zidane racing through a film noir, stylized city listening to radio broadcast from his classic 1960s sports car, as Villa and Messi race each other from either end of the pitch until the final dramatic, super slow motion face off. The film launches online first and will then run on television globally over the next few weeks in the lead up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Online activation also includes adidas’ 50 Days of Fast on www.facebook.com/adidasfootball featuring Messi, Kaka, De Rossi, Simao, Ballack and Gourcuff giving insights on how they think football has developed over the years to become a faster game. Facebook fans also have the chance to take part in a “fast” knowledge competition to win a pair of new F50’s exclusively signed by Messi.
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