This is meant to be a “best Swiss commercials” type, totally biased post, sort of a list of my personal favourites. My plan was to focus mostly on the golden age of advertising, the 90s. And well, it didn’t work out, I tried to gather information from several sources, I just couldn’t find any commercials that were really Swiss, I couldn’t fall in love with any of them. So I started asking my Swiss friends, but they couldn’t help me either. I got the feeling that there are no Swiss commercials because German-speakers watch German TV, French-speakers French TV and Italian-speakers Italian TV. But, as usual, I was wrong, and found the ultimate source of Swiss advertising: Roger Federer. This guy has promoted literally all sorts of Swiss and non-Swiss products. In the end, I did nothing but watch Federer commercials for at least an hour. In the end, my eyes were dry, and I didn’t have the energy to keep looking for other commercials (but I didn’t give up, I just need to dig deeper). So I decided to make a list of my favorite Federer commercials.
1. Sunrise
Sunrise is a Swiss telecommunications company that has been working with Federer for more than 8 years. So it’s no surprise that they’ve had a lot of collaborations, it was hard to choose a favourite, and in the end I chose one from 2015, which shows Federer’s full day off.
2. Rolex
Federer has been a Rolex Ambassador since 2001. In more than 20 years, they have worked together in countless ways. The following spot was made for the 2021 Wimbledon Tennis Tournament and actually showcases Federer’s career, while the voiceover is wonderfully in tune with the images we see.
3. Switzerland itself and Robert De Niro
Since 2021, Federer has been the official ambassador for Swiss tourism (finally… what took you so long?) In their first commercial for 2021, Federer tries to convince Robert De Niro to star in a short film about Switzerland (this year they were joking around with Anne Hathaway, by the way). This is one of my absolute favorites in the lineup, so if you only want to watch one or two ads, you definitely don’t want to miss this one.
4. Mercedes-Benz
Although Mercedes-Benz is not a Swiss brand, they have been working with the Swiss tennis star since 2008. They’ve shot countless excellent and not so excellent commercials together. I’ve chosen one that was shot in Switzerland (Ticino to be precise). Let’s not get into whether the car they’re promoting is good or not, I just think the two old gentlemen and Federer are really cute in it.
5. Nike
Well, these few lines could be about why Federer dumped Nike after nearly 20 years of collaboration, but that’s not the point now. Let’s watch a commercial instead, which animal rights activists would not be happy about, so I apologise to all of you, but I think it’s hilarious.
6. Lindt
And finally my absolute favourite, the commercial for the Swiss chocolate company Lindt. Interestingly, the tennis player is the first brand ambassador in Lindt’s history. I wouldn’t say anything else about this spot, it’s just brilliantly entertaining.
+1 Federer answers 73 questions for Vogue
Footnote (haha this next to the picture is very funny)
Three very important things I have taken away from the Federer commercials:
1. The Swiss are right to use him in their advertising instead of their other national treasure DJ Bobo. (If you listen to me, next time you’ll choose the footballer Sommer after he retires)
2. Federer deserves some kind of mini Oscar or Swiss film medal, he’s getting better and better.
3. Finally, the more commercials and interviews with Roger Federer you watch, the more you understand why the Swiss love him so much.
