Adidas Helps the Argentine National Team Bid Adieu to Lionel Messi

Replacing 'Messi' on jerseys with 'Gracias'

Adidas marks a monumental moment: Lionel Messi retiring from Argentina’s national football team after 21 years. 

The sports apparel brand created “Gracias 10,” a short doc with much of the focus on his teammates describing their feelings on sharing the pitch with the player deemed the greatest of all time. Newcycle handled the work.

“Gracias 10” began with a question: How could Adidas honor Lionel Messi at a moment that the entire country knew would be deeply emotional? As the concept developed, the focus became the jersey, replacing “Messi” on the back with “Gracias.” 

“We then invited his teammates and the coaching staff to share their own words of appreciation,” says Newcycle cofounder Jon Levi. “We didn’t want to tell people how extraordinary Messi is. Everyone already knows that. We wanted to capture what he means to the people who have been by his side. Their stories became the heart of the film.”

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More than 30 people took part, including members of the support staff and the president of the Argentine Football Association.

The doc emphasizes Messi’s final days with his national team compatriots, his final training session, and the lead up to his final match. But, it also culls from the activations taking place in Rosario (where Messi’s journey began), to Estadio Monumental, where he played his final match. 

“Gracias 10” documents a giant jersey created—and displayed—at this final game. Inspired by the Argentine flag, “Gracias 10” was planted on it. The location was fittingly selected to symbolize the gratitude felt by a nation for the extraordinary feats Messi has accomplished that have transformed the game for all of Argentina.

“The creative challenge was to find the simplest possible way to express an enormous emotion,” says Dan Stolar, also a cofounder at Newcycle. “In this case, we replaced one of the most iconic names in football with a single word: ‘Gracias.'” The jersey became the starting point for a much bigger conversation.

Diego Silber, manager of brand Adidas Argentina adds: “We wanted to discover what he means to the people who have shared his journey—that’s where the real emotion lives.”

Here, instead of focusing on a farewell, the brand wanted to celebrate what Messi has given to both his team and country.”

The documentary was released on YouTube and across Adidas’ digital channels. The tribute was also featured on special edition covers of Olé in Buenos Aires and La Capital in Rosario.

“Football has a unique ability to bring millions of people together around the same emotion,” adds Levi. “With Gracias 10, we didn’t need to invent that emotion. It was already there. We just found a way to express it. Sometimes the most powerful thing creativity can do is give people a simple way to say what they already feel.”

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