Gianluigi Buffon, over 50 million views for Mate's video

The strongest goalkeeper of all time announces the withdrawal from the scenes with content created by the Mate agency with the help of AI and published on his social channels

A video to celebrate the end of thecareerof one of the greatest goalkeepers in football history. Gianluigi Buffon, former number 1 among others of the Italian national team and Juventus, announced his farewell to the football played and did so through a video published on his social channels, which tells the emotions and the most significant moments of a glorious football path.

The juxtaposition with DC Comics superhero “Superman” — one of his trademarks since time — is the narrative theme of this film. The creative project - The content was conceived and realized by Mate, the communication agency with offices in Turin and Milan that boasts among its members the ex-teammates of Buffon GiorgioChielliniand Claudio Marchisio, with the support of artificial intelligence. For the creation of the animated parts that show Buffon as “Superman”, it was used Stable WarpFusion, a software that can generate an animated sequence based on an already existing video, tracing its movements and customizing its style through the prompt entry. To create continuity between real and animated images, 'glitch' effects were used instead.

The numbers - A communicative choice that, on balance, turned out to be a winner: 52 million views on the footballer's social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) and over 1,200,000 likes on within 48 hours. The legendary extreme defender's 28-year career spanning during 1978 was packed into a single minute of emotional video, which in fact made one of the most significant sporting moments of this even more touching. Media coverage - The news of Gianluigi Buffon's retirement has been picked up by all major national media, from print to websites, from television broadcasters to radio. Given the popularity of the character, which has always transcended national borders, the echo of the farewell announcement to football played has also resounded abroad, with over 400 international newspapers: from the BBC to CNN, passing through The Times of India, Washington Post, China Daily, The Australian, Al Jazeera and L'Équipe.From Europe to Asia, from America to Africa, to Oceania, everyone has been honoured by the greatness of a timeless champion.