Source:
This commercial went viral in 2015 when the producers spliced together different sections of Donald Trump’s speeches to create a pro-Mexico ad for an upcoming match between the USMNT and the Mexican national team. TV Azteca, the ad’s creator, is a major sports broadcaster in Mexico. During a time of great controversy between the two nations, they turned Donald Trump’s hurtful remarks about their nation into a comedic, motivating advertisement for the match. When this news article by worldsoccertalk.com was posted, the advertisement had already racked up over 60,000 views despite not being publicly posted yet.
This advertisement highlights the creativity of Mexican fans to use soccer to fire back at Donald Trump. The match between the two nations has long served as a vehicle for expressing political grievance and cultural identity. They use athletic competition as a space to express views that cannot be expressed in an official political setting. A major media outlet, such as TV Azteca, framing the game exclusively in political terms shows how this rivalry transcended from just a game to political theater.
Don’t know TV Azteca? For most of the U.S., there’s a good reason for that. The Mexican broadcaster is a player in the FMF soccer world and will be broadcasting Oct. 10’s Confederations Cup playoff between the United States and Mexico, but unless you’re a Spanish speaker or a Liga MX diehard, you’ve probably never ventured onto the network. Today, however, Azteca made a name for itself among a new batch of U.S.-based fans with one of the more entertaining promotional spots in recent memory. Capitalizing on the ongoing Donald Trump craze, Azteca took comments from the presidential candidate’s infamous candidacy announcement to promote its upcoming coverage.
Sears, Karl. “TV Azteca Spins Trump Speech into Amazing USA-Mexico Promo.” World Soccer Talk, September 9, 2015. https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/donald-trump-clip-tv-azteca-confederations-cup-playoff-usa-vs-mexico-promo-20150909-CMS-150766.html.