David Beckham stars in Galaxy S3 Olympic ad

David Beckham may be in the deep twilight stages of his career, but his silly smiling mug  is still very much marketable. What further proof would you need than to see him starring in Samsung‘s latest Galaxy S3 ad, which highlights the phone’s prestigious role as the ‘official phone of the 2012 Oympics‘?

While Becks missed out on his place in Great Britain’s Olympic football team, he makes a good case in the ad that his set-piece skills will be sorely missed, as he hits a giant, moving gong from around 50 yards away with his trademark curling free kick.

The ad wouldn’t have been so bad if we just repeatedly just watched Becks taking free kicks, but sadly it moves on to the typical Olympic theme of how universal and unifying sport is, showing people all over the world playing sports in various locations.

You could probably make a case that the ad is in bad taste when it associates the Galaxy S3 with ‘Everyone’s Olympic Games.’ Given that the phone is a £500 beast that, contrary to the Olympics, definitely isn’t for everyone to enjoy, it’s a cheeky bit of marketing. But that’s just being fussy. The ad contains David Beckham after all, so we forgive Samsung for their hammy punch-lines.