England Beats Ireland in Rugby... on Planet Nike (VIDEO)

On Planet Earth, Ireland would actually crush England 24-8 last Saturday to deny them the coveted Grand Slam win in rugby's Six Nations Championship.
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Nike is hanging its swoosh in shame after jumping the gun -- and the shark -- by making a high-end TV commercial celebrating the English team's anticipated Grand Slam win in rugby's Six Nations Championship. On Planet Earth, however, Ireland would actually crush England 24-8 last Saturday to deny them the coveted Grand Slam.

The striking thirty-second clip would likely have been shown first on massive video displays at key London transit hubs the moment the final whistle blew in Dublin, with thousands of celebratory "Grand Slam Champions 2011" T-shirts ready for sale at those spots as well. To the chagrin of Rugby Union and Nike, the overreaching alternate-reality advert soon found its way into the social media jet stream, including right here:

I've got to admit -- the ad makes want to go out and see some rugby!

The now legendary commercial spurred considerable social media traffic on Facebook and Twitter and, as expected, spawned a second generation of video responses. Here are just a few of the YouTube mashups, rants and send-ups inspired by the half-minute when Nike "Just Blew It."

For a great overview of the epic match and of the official reactions to the Bizarro-world Nike ad, go to IrishCentral.com

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