Roger Federer fulfils young boy’s dream in latest Barilla ad

Roger Federer headlines Italian multinational food company Barilla’s latest campaign, ‘The Promise’. In the campaign, Federer keeps his promise he made to a young fan in 2017, reassuring the young boy that he will continue playing long enough for both of them to play together one day.

The ad starts off with a young boy named Izyan ‘Zizou’ Ahmad, a die-hard Federer fan, who gets the chance to speak to Federer at a post-match conference. The young boy requests Federer to continue playing for at least eight to nine years, so that he can grow up and play with him. Federer replies sheepishly with a yes, to which the boy asks for a confirmation where Federer ‘pinky promises’ that he will. 

The ad then moves forward five years, when Zizou’s sponsor Barilla and Boomerang agency come together to fulfil young Zizou’s dream. Zizou is taken to Zurich for what he thought was a training camp. At the camp, all the spotlight is on the youngster and he is quite surprised. One of the employees of the club even has a T-shirt with Zizou’s face on it with a bunch of kids chanting the boy’s name. Little does Zizou know that Federer himself is watching all of this. One of the club’s employees then takes Zizou onto the court and he is then told he would be playing against “a worthy opponent”, which is when Federer comes out. An emotional Zizou is barely able to contain his emotions while Federer reminds him that he had a promise to keep. 

The film ends with both playing against each other and then enjoying some pasta.