Social Intelligence
Q1 2026 Report
What 3,177 videos say about Adidas
Every video in the last 3 months where someone said "Adidas" out loud. Transcripts, captions, and 65,000 comments analyzed. This is what people actually think.
Every video in the last 3 months where someone said "Adidas" out loud. Transcripts, captions, and 65,000 comments analyzed. This is what people actually think.
The big picture
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kit reveals took over the Adidas conversation. 854 videos about kits generated massive engagement, and in the head-to-head debate, Adidas outperformed Nike in public opinion by a 3.4 to 1 ratio. The brand is riding a genuine cultural moment, driven not by paid campaigns but by organic creator enthusiasm.
Peak week (Mar 16-22): 590 videos, 77.4M views. World Cup away kit reveals.
What stands out
529 instances of people saying "Adidas won / cooked / is better" in spoken words and comments, versus only 156 for Nike. The conversation is overwhelming.
March 20, 2026. 157 videos in one day generated 40.4 million views. The World Cup away kit reveal wave peaked here.
Micro and mid-tier creators (10K-500K followers) produced 73.5% of all videos. This is not a top-down brand push. It is organic enthusiasm at scale.
622 videos put the two brands side by side. In the spoken words, the captions, and the comments, the verdict is clear. Adidas owns this cycle.
Straight from
the people
Real quotes from creators' spoken words, video captions, and audience comments. No paraphrasing. No filtering. This is what people actually said about Adidas.
The conversation spans English (48%), French (38%), German (9%), and Spanish (3%). The sentiment is consistent across all languages. Whether they say "cooked," "foudroie," "geowned," or "tabasse," the message is the same: Adidas won this round.
What they
really think
Sentiment extracted from 2,189 comments that explicitly name Adidas, plus spoken word analysis from all 3,177 video transcripts. The picture is clear, but nuanced.
Adidas wins 77% of direct comparisons
What they love
The away kits are iconic. From Argentina to Spain to Japan, the away kit collection is the most praised Adidas product release in the dataset. People use words like "history," "insane," "banger." The consensus is that Adidas took creative risks and they paid off.
Heritage earns respect. Across languages, there is a recurring idea that Adidas "gets" football in a way Nike does not. Comments like "Adidas actually loves football" and "Adidas will always be the best" reflect a deep brand loyalty rooted in perceived authenticity.
Sneaker culture is secure. Samba, Gazelle, and Campus keep appearing in fashion content. The retro wave shows zero signs of fatigue. Creators style them naturally, not as a trend, but as a wardrobe essential.
What they critique
Price is the main friction. "Adidas must think we're rich" says one creator to 2.9M viewers. "Norway home is like $200" writes a commenter. The kits are loved but expensive. Price sensitivity surfaces repeatedly across languages.
Some federations feel neglected. Colombia and Iraq are the loudest critics. "Adidas le tiene la mala a Colombia" gets 9,057 likes. Iraqi creators show years of unchanged, low-quality kits while Adidas dresses others in luxury.
Home kits are sometimes "safe." The creative energy goes to away kits. Some home kits get called repetitive. Creators want Adidas to take the same risks at home that they take on the road.
Who is driving
the conversation
2,214 unique creators mentioned Adidas in their spoken words. The split between grassroots and mainstream tells a clear story: this is earned conversation, not paid placement.
| # | Creator | Platform | Followers | Videos | Views | Likes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @laceuplive | TT | 24.3K | 1 | 20.8M | 300K |
| 2 | @barrosjr | TT | 1.6M | 1 | 6.4M | 155K |
| 3 | @estadoblao | IG V | 3.0M | 1 | 6.0M | 469K |
| 4 | @joshuamuerza | TT | 158K | 1 | 5.7M | 324K |
| 5 | @grwmia.o | TT | 1.4M | 8 | 5.1M | 726K |
| 6 | @danlaudit | TT | 6.3M | 2 | 4.6M | 232K |
| 7 | @dabronco0 | TT | 69.4K | 2 | 4.5M | 416K |
| 8 | @hellacreps | TT | 187K | 3 | 4.4M | 152K |
| 9 | @eminem | IG V | 45.5M | 1 | 4.3M | 221K |
| 10 | @ederescriba | TT | 349K | 2 | 4.1M | 340K |
| 11 | @rwani10 | TT | 800K | 1 | 4.0M | 323K |
| 12 | @eldocdelamoda | TT | 832K | 2 | 3.5M | 374K |
| 13 | @theofoot35 | TT | 26.2K | 1 | 3.5M | 141K |
| 14 | @laylaleannetaylor | TT V | 806K | 1 | 3.5M | 375K |
| 15 | @abdellahhfcb | TT | 170K | 2 | 3.4M | 465K |
Creator tiers
73.5% of content comes from micro and mid-tier creators. But mega creators (1M+ followers) punch above their weight: 11% of videos, 31.7% of views. Notable verified accounts include Eminem (45.5M), Liverpool FC (49.1M), Bianca (19.4M), and Mikayla Nogueira (17.4M).
The products
people talk about
Product mentions extracted from spoken words and captions. What people actually name when they reference Adidas.
What it means
Samba is still king. After 2+ years of cultural dominance, Samba fatigue has not arrived. 185 mentions, consistently showing up in OOTD, haul, and streetwear content. Creators treat it as a wardrobe staple, not a trend. That is the strongest signal a product can have.
Predator is a content engine. 152 mentions. Football creators make detailed, high-production review content around Predator models. This is earned media at its best. Adidas does not need to pay for this coverage because the product speaks for itself.
Bad Bunny outperforms legacy silhouettes. 57 mentions, ahead of Gazelle (52) and Campus (46). The collaboration has genuine cultural traction across English and Spanish-speaking audiences.
Ultraboost is quiet. Only 16 mentions. The running category belongs to Adizero now (28 mentions). Performance runners talk tech. Casual audiences have moved on from Ultraboost.
SL 72 is the one to watch. 26 mentions and growing. It has the early energy of what Samba had before it exploded. Retro silhouette, clean design, creator-friendly. If any model is next, it might be this one.
Test your
knowledge
10 questions. All answers come directly from the 3,177 videos analyzed. No tricks.
How many total views did the 3,177 Adidas-mentioning videos generate?
In head-to-head comparisons, what percentage of mentions favor Adidas over Nike?
Which Adidas product is mentioned most in spoken words and captions?
Which celebrity account (45.5M followers) appeared in the dataset?
What day saw 40.4M views, the single biggest day in the dataset?
What share of content is created by micro and mid-tier creators (10K-500K)?
Which content category had the most videos?
The most-liked comment mentioning Adidas had how many likes?
What was the second most common language after English (48%)?
Which federation's fans were loudest in criticizing Adidas for neglect (9,057 likes)?