Mars, Sure deodorant and - soon - Pepsi and the Bavarians. Football-themed advertising season has officially opened as brands small and large look to win over consumers in the run up to the World Cup.
Mars' is going down the loyalty route with a limited-edition chocolate bar called Believe - it is, after all, England's best chance for as long as anyone can remember. This will be followed, of course, with the obligatory television ad campaign featuring a football-obsessed fan.
Sure went all bells-and-whistles in a good old-fashioned multi-million pound ad campaign (touted as possibly the most expensive ever-made in the UK) using special effects wizards from the Harry Potter films to create a Jurassic Park-esque CGI extravaganza.
The gates have opened and the flood will begin, but it is the big names such as Nike, adidas, Coca Cola and Pepsi that are usually the contenders for the title of "most memorable football ad". It is the public that decide this battle and it is of interest to muse which ad from previous World Cups might deserve top honours?
During the 2002 World Cup in Japan it was Nike's "secret tournament" - featuring footballers in a series of cage matches introduced by Eric Cantona and set to Elvis song A little less conversation - that was, arguably, the winner. Although some would say that Pepsi's blockbuster featuring Beckham and friends competing against sumo wrestlers ran the sports giant close.
Perhaps best not to mention the probable ire of world governing body FIFA at the time - who it is imagined were not impressed by the fact that these two brands stole a lot of limelight from official sponsors Coca Cola and adidas and their tens-of-millions-of-pounds contracts.
Adidas' effort saw us graced with scientists dealing with afflicted footballers at the Institute of Footballitis.
And remember Nike's 1998 cracker, "airport", featuring the Brazilian team running rampant through an, er, airport?
Coca-Cola started its campaign two weeks ago leveraging its official sponsor status to show-off the World Cup alongside wonderboy Wayne Rooney - who was recently signed up by Asda who undoubtedly want to trump Sainsbury's and company as the football fans' supermarket of choice. Last World Cup the soft drinks giant used the animated character Leggsy - a conscious decision to differentiate from the star-studded campaigns of other brands. Most of the big brands are keeping their current campaigns underwraps, but which ads were the best from yester-year?
