You can’t keep England football star Jude Bellingham out of the headlines at the moment. Not content with playing a key role for England at EURO 2024 on the field – the Three Lions midfielder is also now lighting up the ad breaks. That’s according to new research from creative effectiveness platform DAIVID, which found that Bellingham’s “Hey Jude” campaign for sports brand Adidas is the EURO 2024 ad that’s generating the most positive engagement from viewers. 

With EURO 2024 in full swing in Germany, DAIVID used its advanced content testing platform – which measures the emotions people feel while watching ads – to see which ads from the football tournament are generating the most intense positive emotions. 

“Hey Jude” topped the chart after 52.8% of people watching the ad experienced intense positive emotions. 

That put it ahead of Tennent’s “Get To Germany”, a trailer for the Scottish brewing company’s series following Scottish fans taking part in a competition to get to Germany without flying, and Budweiser’s “Bring It Home”, which stars England World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst, in second and third respectively. 

Irn-Bru’s “Mannschaft” and Paddy Power’s “Everyone’s Favourites” complete the top 5. Other brands to make the top 10 include Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Bitburger.

Surprisingly, “Awaken Your Madness” from sports brand Nike, whose ads have lit up sporting tournaments for decades, just missed out on the top 10 (11th). 

Despite just making the top 5, Paddy’s Power’s ad, which stars actor Danny Dyer, was the EURO 24 ad that generated the most laughs, with 37.6% finding it funny, well above the UK norm. Irn-Bru’s “Mannschaft” was the second funniest (36.7%).  

Ian Forrester, CEO and founder of DAIVID, said: “Time will tell if the 20-year-old Real Madrid star will take the sad song of England’s recent tournament history and make it better, but there’s no doubt that Adidas has scored a real winner with ‘Hey Jude’.

“By digging deep into the sores of England’s previous disappointments at the European Championships and then placing the nation’s hopes on Bellingham’s young shoulders, the ad generated incredibly intense feelings among the people who watched, particularly of hope, adoration, and inspiration – the perfect recipe for sporting success. It’s also worth mentioning brands like Irn-Bru and Paddy Power. Making people laugh at ads is never easy, but their campaigns really hit the net.”

To see the full chart, click here.