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Adidas Japan recently launched its newly designed official shirts for the Japanese national football (or soccer if you’d rather) team, no doubt prompting thousands of fans to rush out and place orders in the name of supporting their side while wearing the same style “samurai blue” uniform.

Ordinarily we wouldn’t pay too much attention to the launch of a mere sporting garment – though we have to admit it is pretty stylish – but the promotional ad that was released alongside it really knocked us for six. Check it out after the jump.

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On paper, the ad is simple enough. It begins with three young ladies excitedly browsing the new shirts in a store (sceptics may wonder why girls who look like they’d be more at home in trendy Shibuya would be so thrilled about a football shirt, but having been to multiple games here in Japan I can assure you’re equally likely to see groups of passionate young women like these supporting their team as you are balding, overweight gentlemen shouting four-letter words at matches in the UK). After picking up a shirt and trotting over to a mirror to hold it against herself, one girl suddenly sees herself staring out onto the field as the Japanese national team huddle up for an impassioned pep talk. They shout to the girl, asking what on earth she’s doing just standing there, and call her in as if she’s a member of the team.

This plotline in itself not especially unique, and we’ve all no doubt seen dozens of ads over the years featuring kids/fans/viewers at home being invited to join their heroes by way of some product or other (spoiler: this will not happen). But it’s the intensity of the ad that really surprises and impresses.

Check the ad out for yourselves here:

For an commercial essentially promoting a football jersey, this is some pretty powerful stuff, and many Japanese netizens are already calling the it “seriously hot” and “all kinds of cool.” We have to agree!

We’ll leave you now with a video introducing the concept behind the new shirt’s design and showing off its features. Enjoy.

Video via YouTube Adidas Japan
[ Read in Japanese ]