Do you believe in miracles? A new World Cup promo from broadcaster Fox certainly does, successfully weaponising the rarest of currencies in these turbulent times – hope.

The new ad, titled “Miracle” – created by Fox Sports Marketing and Special US, and directed by Lance Acord – imagines Team USA doing the impossible and winning the World Cup. That’s right, actually lifting the trophy.

They even beat five-time winners Brazil in the final. Quite a reach, admittedly. A snowball probably has more chance of sitting comfortably on a warm couch in Hell, but still.  Only in advertising… 

But judging by the results when we actually tested the ad using our creative intelligence platform, maybe hope – the most unfashionable of emotions – is just what we all need right now.

Featuring prominent players from the U.S. Men’s National Team and other celebrity cameos, the new spot is set to Elvis Presley’s “The Impossible Dream”.

The ad kicks off with US soccer star Christian Pulisic sending over a corner in the World Cup final against Brazil in the 97th minute with the two sides deadlocked at 2-2. The ball is headed home in the dying seconds, securing the US the greatest prize in international football and sending the country into raptures. Soccer stars end up on currency. Times Square is taken over. 

And then, just as reality threatens to reassert itself, in walks Mike Eruzione – captain of the 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team – with the only line the ad needed: “You don’t believe in miracles?”

Certainly, when we tested the ad using our AI-powered creative testing platform – trained on tens of millions of human responses – it looks like we do.

Emotional breakdown – Fox “Believe”

The ad managed a Creative Effectiveness Score (CES), which measures overall effectiveness, of 6.99 out of 10 – placing it in the top 14% of all ads ever tested by DAIVID, and well above the industry average of 5.8. It also puts it top of all the World Cup spots we have tested so far. 

So what is driving this World Cup-winning performance? Well, for starters, the ad is 15.2% more likely to drive positive emotions than the average ad.

The spot also manages to hold people’s attention throughout, with 66.9% still watching in the final three seconds against an industry norm of 58.2%. 

People are also 35% more likely to remember that Fox is the brand behind the ad. And negative emotions came in nearly 20% below the norm. It turns out it is very hard to feel bad while watching a nation dare to dream. 

Now, here is where it gets interesting. A deeper look at the key emotions driving its success shows that hope (+72%), entrancement (+74%) and pride (+61%) all significantly outperformed industry averages. 

Hope is particularly interesting. 

The conventional wisdom in advertising is that you make people laugh, or you make them cry. These are the reliable emotional levers. Hope, by contrast, tends to get filed under “difficult” – too vague, too woolly, too passive, too dependent on the audience actually believing the premise in the first place. Not the safe, cuddly warmth of a John Lewis Christmas ad. Not the reliable titter you get from a funny celebrity cameo. 

Hope asks something of its audience. It requires them to lean in, suspend disbelief and, for two minutes at least, actually want something. And in a world that has become increasingly suspicious of wanting things too much, that’s not easy.

And that is precisely what “Miracle” does. It doesn’t require Americans to believe the US will actually win the World Cup. It just gives them permission to imagine it – and to feel, briefly, the kind of collective national joy that is in rather short supply right now. 

All they need is five more “Miracles” and they may have a chance of actually winning this summer.