Adidas continues its long tradition with the FIFA World Cup, this time with a crypto twist.

The sports brand included its Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) character named Indigo Herz in a recent promotional trailer published alongside footballing superstars like Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema.

Herz was depicted on a cereal box of “Indigoooooals” with the message that Benzema eats goals for breakfast. The video trailer was narrated by British rap icon Stormzy, who made a cameo appearance at the end as the coach driver transporting the players to the tournament.

Adidas purchased Indigo Herz, or BAYC #8774, in September 2021 for 46 Ethereum, roughly $156,000 at that time.

The move offers an interesting example of NFT rights being leveraged by large brands.

Adidas in Web3

Yuga Labs, the founding company behind BAYC, grants holders full intellectual property rights to use the characters for commercial endeavors.

Adidas thus have full license to use their Ape NFT across physical and digital products, from sports jerseys and sneakers to merchandise, much like traditional logos or naming rights.

This isn’t the first time a Bored Ape has been used in this way either. California-based restaurant Bored & Hungry also adopted Bored Ape #6184 throughout its menu and advertising.

Adidas formed another partnership with Yuga Labs, popular influencer GMoney, and NFT collection Punks Comics, too, to advance their pursuit of metaverse engagements, with each character starring in Adidas’ inaugural NFT drop, titled Into the Metaverse.

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