adidas asks what 'Typisch Deutsch' means and makes a pink jersey a record seller

Ahead of the EURO 2024 tournament played on home soil, the German national team was in its worst sporting crisis in decades: early eliminations had eroded younger fans' attachment to the team and to football itself. As the German kit brand for decades, adidas wanted the jersey launch to reignite love for the game rather than sell on results alone.

Ask the nation what 'typically German' means in 2024 — and let the bold pink away jersey stand for a renewed, self-ironic national identity.

Jung von Matt created a two-minute launch film in which football stars and celebrities playfully dismantle cliches about German identity — punctuality, bureaucracy, cars, order — asking what is really typical now. The idea was amplified through a bold social and influencer strategy, and when the pink-lilac away jersey triggered outrage, adidas held its nerve and let the debate play out.

Within two weeks the campaign generated over 860 million impressions and 67 million video views, and jersey sales rose 586% versus the equivalent World Cup 2022 period (1,102% vs EURO 2021). The pink away shirt became the German national team's best-selling away jersey in history, and the campaign won the Grand Effie Germany 2024.

Before EURO 2024, German football was in its deepest crisis of confidence: early tournament exits and dull results had pushed younger fans away, and even a home European Championship failed to promise enthusiasm. adidas, the DFB's kit supplier since the 1950s, chose the release of the new national jerseys as the moment to rebuild the relationship between the team and the country.

The creative engine was a simple question: what is 'Typisch Deutsch' in 2024? Jung von Matt's two-minute launch film had stars of football, music and entertainment — among them RIN and streamer EliasN97 — cheerfully push every German stereotype around, treating the new shirt as a symbol of a more open, self-ironic national identity. The campaign then played out through social and influencer channels, and when the pink-lilac away kit provoked a nationwide debate, adidas did not retreat: it stayed with the conversation.

The results rewrote the benchmark for national-team kit launches. In two weeks the campaign reached over 860 million impressions and 67 million video views; adidas reported sales up 586% against the same period around the 2022 World Cup and 1,102% versus EURO 2021. The away shirt became the best-selling away jersey in the history of the German national team, and at the Effie Gala in Leipzig the campaign was named Grand Effie Germany 2024 winner.

It sold belonging before product: the question 'what is typically German' invited every fan to take part in defining the team's identity, so buying the shirt became an answer, not a purchase.

Provocation was absorbed into the idea: the design itself sparked the debate, and adidas' calm refusal to back down turned an anticipated shitstorm into the campaign's fuel.

The launch used culture, not fixtures: with no winning streak to market, stars, music and stereotypes carried the story to audiences who had stopped watching the team.

Every channel repeated one question rather than one claim, which let earned media, influencers and fans all add their own answers.

Reframe the context, not just the product: asking an open cultural question instead of selling a colour made a controversial shirt a symbol — the debate itself drove demand.

The pink shirt's success became a reference point for German sports marketing and for adidas, capping the company's decades as DFB kit supplier: from 2027 Nike takes over the contract, making 'Typisch Deutsch' the final chapter of a long partnership. The campaign collected the Gold Effie in the Activation category before winning the Grand Effie Germany 2024, and its use of the 1980s pop song 'Major Tom' — revived in a modern version for the launch — even drew a fan petition to make it the team's official goal song.