Hasta La Creative!

BBDO New York launched a new campaign for Foot Locker featuring Houston Rockets star James Harden, who the agency teamed up with last September for the “Play My Tweet” effort.

The campaign features a series of spots starring Harden, centered around the spot “James Harden’s Inner Voice.” It seems that some strangeness from Periscope and Harden’s whacky work for Trolli may have seeped into the effort, as said “inner voice” sounds a lot like Colin Farrell.

When approached by two fans, Harden’s gives out a little nugget of advice: “Look fresh and always trust that little voice in your head,” to which the fan nods along…until Harden adds, “you know, that little voice that kind of sounds like Collin Farrell.” The guys look thoroughly perplexed as Harden’s inner Farrell voice tells him it’s time to get going so he can “shower and wait for the president to call.”

The other spots follow the strange formula, with Farrell providing Harden’s inner monologue for a practice session, a strange car entry method and, in both “Treadmill” and the self-referential “Greatest Pre-Roll Ever” a workout session.

Harden is a natural choice for such a strange approach, even if the scenarios in which he interacts with his inner Colin Farrell voice are a little run-of-the-mill. Harden’s presence and the sheer strangeness of the ads should be enough to at least help them stand out from the pack, however — especially at a time when other brands seem focused on the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Houston Rockets star James Harden takes center stage in W+K’s latest “This is SportsCenter” installation, entitled “Satellite,” which also features SportsCenter anchors Neil Everett, Kenny Mayne and Stan Verrett.

In the 30-second spot, which will run for six weeks, Harden fields a call from a mission control center as Everett and Verrett call with a technical problem on the set of SportsCenter. From here things take an unexpected turn, with a cameo by Houston Astros mascot Orbit. Without giving too much away, we can say that as far as “This is SportsCenter” spots go, this one is certainly on the stranger end. Harden, who also appeared in this memorable spot for Foot Locker a few months back, plays his part well, but we think this one will leave some people scratching their heads. (more…)

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BBDO New York taps Houston Rockets star James Harden and retired NBA greats Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen for a funny new spot entitled “Short Memory,” which promises to be the first in a series.

When Harden asks Barkley for advice on starting the new season fresh, Barkley explains that all the greats have short memories. Harden asks if that means Barkley forgot about it if he had a bad game, to which Barkley replies that he never had a bad game. Harden persists with a series of questions, until Barkley cuts him off, seeing that he doesn’t get it, and turns to Scottie Pippen for help. Pippen perfectly encapsulates Barkley’s point, declaring himself the greatest Chicago Bull ever — which would be true with a parenthetical “(available for selection in NBA Jam).”

It’s a clever spot, making good use of Barkley’s comedic potential, even if Harden comes across a bit stiff in comparison. Pippen’s tongue-in-cheek boast alone gives “Shot Memory” viral potential, which the spot already seems to be fulfilling. It has racked up almost 600,000 views since being posted yesterday. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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What happens when two NBA athletes confront each other in an ad campaign dubbed “Approved” for Foot Locker? This. Now, BBDO NY continues its successful, appealing streak with the sports apparel retail chain by bringing in New Orleans Pelicans’ unibrowed star Anthony Davis to join forces with James Harden, the bearded star of the Houston Rockets. You might remember Harden from his previous roles in Foot Locker ads including one where he exposed his singing talents. In the first Harden-less spot, Davis cruelly crashes a youngster’s hoop dreams while meeting with Harden in the second one below. It keeps continue to be appealing so let us try to get a laugh, out of this, the horrible post-ice storm day.  The first one above is for Kids Foot Locker while the one below is for regular Foot Locker.

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NBA stars are a festive bunch, with great timing to boot. They need both in the league's holiday campaigns. Last year, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook and Joe Johnson impressively played the popular Christmas song "Carol of the Bells" just by bouncing basketballs (in a spot that soared to more than 8 million views). Now, here's the sequel—also from GS&P.

It stars Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, James Harden, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry shooting three-pointers at nets outfitted with Christmas bells—producing an even more impressive musical performance, this time of "Jingle Bells." LeBron James punctuates the song with a dunk at the end, then asks, "Please tell me the camera was on." It's a perfect spot.

Like last year's spot, this one promotes special-edition uniforms, available for sale, that 10 teams will wear on their Christmas Day games this year.

See a making-of video, plus credits, below.

CREDITS
Client: NBA
Spot: "Jingle Hoops"

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Goodby
Creative Directors: Nick Klinkert, Adam Reeves
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Rus Chao
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Kevin Koller
Producer: Benton Roman
Executive Producer: Tod Puckett
Director of Broadcast Production: Cindy Fluitt
Account Directors: Jason Bedecarre, Janice McManemy
Account Manager: Heather Morba
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Julie Petruzzo

Production Company: O Positive
Director: Jonathan Klein
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Line Producer: Angie Revell
Director of Photography: Eric Steelberg

Editing: Final Cut
Editor: Matt Murphy
Assistant Editors: Tara Wall, Nate Connella
Producer: Suzy Ramirez
Executive Producer: Saima Awan

Visual Effects: Moving Picture Company
Visual Effects Supervisor, 2-D Lead: Jake Montgomery
Nuke: Brendan Smith, Will Voss
Shoot Supervisor: Eric Pascarelli
Design, Animation: Casey McIntyre
Senior Producer: Juliet Tierney
Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

Title Graphics: eLevel
Creative Director: Brady Baltezore
2-D Artist: Chris Carmichael

Sound Design: Barking Owl
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Producer: Whitney Fromholtz

Mix: Barking Owl
Audio Engineer: Brock Babcock

And here is last year's spot:

Not only should you fear James Harden‘s beard, but now you should fear his voice, too. There’s a long history of athletes who want to be rappers/singers, and that history stars and ends with this awesomely terrible Deion Sanders single from 1994. Luckily, Harden’s leap into the music industry is all in good fun on behalf of Foot Locker. BBDO New York has been pumping out quality NBA-related spots for the brand in the past, and “Harden Soul” is no different. It’s crisp, funny, and capable of appreciating the offbeat moment of humor.

Basketball fans may also recognize sharpshooter Stephen Curry as the voice of reason, begging Harden to give up the strain on his vocal cords. But, as Harden says, “I just had the best year of my career, I gotta keep things fresh.” For those interested in things that are kept extra fresh, Foot Locker also released a full version of “Harden Soul” on Youtube (you can listen after the jump). Watch out for the lyrical genius of lines like, “I wear my shirt open/so you see my chest…I keep my stock open/so you can invest.” Almost worthy of a Grammy.

Credits after the jump.

continued…

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