What is Zlatan about?

Zlatan is a professional campaign launched in Sweden in 2015 for the United Nations, created by the agency Forsman & Bodenfors. The campaign centers on football star Zlatan Ibrahimović and was designed to raise awareness about global hunger through a digital medium. During a Paris Saint-Germain match, Zlatan revealed 50 tattoos bearing the names of real individuals suffering from hunger, symbolizing a small fraction of the 805 million people affected worldwide. The campaign was produced for the World Food Programme, the UN’s humanitarian agency, and aimed to humanize the statistics by making the issue of hunger visible and personally resonant for a global audience.

What creative device does Zlatan use?

Zlatan employs the Ongoing Characters or Celebrities format, as classified by Clapboard’s 12-format taxonomy (FORMAT#8). This approach leverages the enduring public recognition of Zlatan Ibrahimović, using his celebrity status as the central vehicle to attract attention and drive engagement. Rather than relying on a traditional narrative or product demonstration, the campaign personalizes the issue of hunger by having Zlatan tattoo the names of hunger victims on his body, transforming a football match into a platform for humanitarian advocacy and inviting viewers to connect emotionally with the cause.

What is the campaign proposition for Zlatan?

The campaign proposition for Zlatan positions the United Nations World Food Programme as a leading force in the fight against global hunger, emphasizing that 805 million people are affected by this crisis—more than by AIDS, malaria, or tuberculosis combined. By spotlighting Zlatan Ibrahimović’s personal commitment, symbolized through the tattoos of hunger victims’ names, the campaign seeks to humanize the statistics and make the invisible suffering tangible. The strategy targets a broad, socially conscious audience, particularly football fans, and underscores WFP’s effectiveness in delivering food aid to millions, even in the most challenging environments.

How does Zlatan rank in Clapboard's archive?

Zlatan holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 88/100 in Clapboard’s global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign’s creative ambition, execution quality, and cultural relevance, as assessed by Clapboard’s curatorial authority.

Who are the competitors in United Nations's category?

In the public interest and humanitarian sector, United Nations faces competition from several global organizations. Amnesty International is recognized for its grassroots activism and advocacy for human rights, while the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is known for rapid-response humanitarian aid and a vast volunteer network. Médecins Sans Frontières focuses on emergency medical care in conflict zones, UNICEF leads in child welfare and global partnerships for children’s rights, and Oxfam International addresses poverty and inequality through development programs and policy advocacy. Each brings a distinct strategic focus to the global humanitarian landscape.

This United Nations campaign turned a football icon’s tattoos into a global call to fight hunger—an unforgettable digital idea— Clapboard's Global Ad Archive.

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Description

United Nations’ Zlatan campaign, created by Forsman & Bodenfors and launched in Sweden in 2015, leveraged the massive cultural capital of football icon Zlatan Ibrahimović to reframe global hunger as a deeply personal crisis rather than an abstract statistic, setting a new bar for public interest communications in the market category. In an arresting live moment during the Paris Saint-Germain vs. Caen match on February 14, Ibrahimović revealed 50 temporary tattoos etched with the names of individuals suffering from hunger—a stark, humanizing gesture that condensed the staggering reality of 805 million hungry people into the narrative of a single game. Departing from traditional story arcs or issue analogies, the digital activation revolved around Zlatan’s extraordinary personal action, reflecting an approach that sits squarely in Clapboard’s FORMAT#8—Ongoing Characters or Celebrities—where a singular, high-recognition personality acts as both storyteller and call to action. This format not only propelled earned media but imbued the issue of hunger with undeniable immediacy by capitalizing on a live sports broadcast, a context where stakes, attention, and emotional investment run high. Supporting assets, notably a film set to Jónsi’s Tornado, extended the campaign experience online, where it resonated with global audiences and amassed over 7.5 million views, catalyzing conversation and engagement around the World Food Programme’s critical life-saving work delivering food to more than 80 million people across 75 countries. By making the invisible visible and inviting direct action through WFP.org/805millionnames, United Nations and Forsman & Bodenfors demonstrated the profound potential of aligning mass platforms with a celebrity willing to put his own body—in the most literal sense—at the center of advocacy. Clapboard rates this 88/100. The Zlatan campaign underscores that in public service communications, the galvanizing power of authentic celebrity action can shift awareness from nameless statistics to urgent human stories, provided the creative allows the cause—not the fame—to remain the message’s beating heart.