The Marshall Islands, a small island nation in the Pacific, is the only one of the 193 UN member states without an officially recognised national football team. Despite having players, a federation, and a football field, the process of recognition has been slow. Yet, time is not a luxury for the Marshall Islands, where rising sea levels threaten to erase the nation before its team can ever play an official match.
To bring attention to this urgent issue and speed up the process, BETC created the 2030 No-Home Jersey for The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation (MISF) and sports brand PlayerLayer.
Designed by Matías Otero, it features indigenous symbols like the outrigger canoe, Plumeria flower, and Great White Shark. It’s emblazoned with the symbolic number 1.5, highlighting the threat of rising temperatures, and the slogan, We deserve to thrive, from poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, reflecting the nation’s fight against climate change.
But to make sure that the jersey will generate the conversations it deserves, there was a twist. The jersey literally disappeared, piece by piece.
All along the marketing campaign promoting it, the jersey gradually faded away. First, a small border vanished, then a larger piece of clothing, until it became more and more unrecognizable over time. At first, viewers barely noticed these subtle changes. But as the vanishing continued, the parallels with the slow but devastating loss of the Marshall Islands became impossible to ignore.
“Instead of releasing a traditional “away” jersey, which teams wear when they play anywhere other than their home stadium, we wanted to draw attention to the fact that we will have no other option when our home has disappeared. As the “no-home” jersey fades away, we hope to shine a spotlight on the urgent action that needs to be taken for our country to remain on the map,” stated Matt Webb, volunteer marketing & commercial director at Marshall Islands Soccer Federation.
The campaign quickly sparked attention for the federation’s followers. Social media gathered questions, curiosity, and, eventually, admiration for the powerful message.
To learn more and support the cause, the No-Home Jersey is available for purchase at rmi.soccer. Each jersey sold contributes to the recognition of the national team and helps preserve the legacy of the Marshall Islands.
Credits:
Client: Marshall Islands Soccer Federation [PlayerLayer]
Brand Managers: Matt Webb & Roderick Bradley
Creative Agency: BETC Paris
Chief Creative Officer: Stephane Xiberras
Executive Creative Director: Olivier Apers
Creative Director: Matthieu Bouilhot
Art Director: Romain Ducos
Copywriter: Nicolas Richard
Motion Designer: Bastien Sabot
Assistant Art Director: Maxence Aubert
Account Director: Adrien Bletton
Jersey Designer: Matias Otero
Producer: Sarah Belhadj
Executive Creative Producer: Guillaume Denecker
Sound Producers: Sophia Conoscente, Adrien Brechaud
Assistant Sound Producer: Estelle Colas
