Here’s an update on the James Harden/Stephen Curry commercial-pretending-to-be-a-music-video we covered last week: while Harden may have uncorked his vocal cords first, Curry is back with an unsavory r&b diss track that has more blues than rhythm. Foot Locker and BBDO New York seem to be having some fun with this one, right down to the purposefully low-budget video effects. I’m not sure whose voice is worse, but both of them are really, really bad singers, and that makes this campaign all the better. A little tea with honey for next time, guys? Anyway, grab some earplugs and listen up.
Madden is turning 25 this year. That means decades of video game football obsessions have now been around long enough to be passed from parents to children and then some. To kick off the game’s promotional campaign, EA Sports debuted “Running Back Sons” yesterday, a minute-long spot about the origins of star running backs Arian Foster and Marshawn Lynch. While you might expect their motivation to come from supportive families, inspirational coaches, and the love of the game, it turns out that their success can be traced back to a friendly battle of brinksmanship between their fictitious fathers, Darian Foster and Marshawn Lynch Sr.
Fathers Foster and Lynch (played by the actual Foster and Lynch, respectively) spend all of their time playing Madden in unusual places as their sons train for football. At one point, young Marshawn even spins around a bear, establishing the beginning of “Beast Mode.” Finally, now that Arian and Marshawn are millionaires, their fathers can play Madden in the pool, which sounds about as dangerous as training with a bear.
This spot is sure to get plenty of airtime in the next few months, especially considering Foster and Lynch have decent acting chops when it comes to commercials. As Marshawn Sr. says, that’s that beast mode right there (raspy old-man laugh) Credits after the jump.
Hot Sauce. Skip to My Lou. Main Event. Kevin. The park league nickname has always been a valued tradition in the realm of streetball, meaningful monikers passed down from the basketball gods that can become legend, a la Dr. J or Pee Wee Kirkland. Kevin Durant, for all of his NBA greatness, has yet to merge his skills with an equally skillful nickname. Yes, there’s KD and the Durantula (and perhaps the best one via Jalen Rose, who resurrected the name Iceberg Slim), but it just doesn’t feel right yet.
For the latest Nike effort from W+K Portland, which was created in partnership with Foot Locker, the agency decided to take Durant’s lack of nicknameness and build an ad around it. The sixty-second spot, which features comedian Hannibal Buress as MC, is the coming-out party for Kevin “Kevin” Durant. Buress runs through pre-game introductions and calls out intricate nicknames for random guys like Don Juan Have a Picnic by the Pond, but when he gets to Durant, the crowd goes silent. Kevin Kevin: It’s funny because it’s true. Credits after the jump.
EA Sports goes back to the future with this dumb-in-a-funny-way spot by ad agency Heat for Madden 25. In the '80s, we're told, two guys playing an early version of the football video game decided to spawn offspring whom they'd be able to use in the game somewhat. Thus were born current Houston Texans running back Arian Foster and Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. (The fathers, "Darian Foster" and "Marshawn Lynch Sr.," are played, of course, by Foster and Lynch themselves.) It's a somewhat convoluted concept that comes across as well done, right on target for sports and video game obsessives, and a nice way to celebrate the Madden franchise's 25th anniversary—even if the kids' gym workouts are over the top in a way that feels a little like Old Spice's Terry Crews was their personal trainer. Credits after the jump.
CREDITS Client: EA Sports' Madden 25
Agency: Heat Creative Directors: Warren Cockrel, Anna Rowland Senior Art Director: Mark Potoka Senior Copywriter: Ben Salsky Content Producer: Vera Kacurova Account Director: Eddie Garabedian Senior Strategist: Daniel Teng
Production Company: Hungry Man Director: Wayne McClammy Executive Producer: Dan Duffy Line Producer: Rachel Curl
Post Company: Arcade Edit Editor: Christjan Jordan Executive Producer: Damian Stevens
Visual Effects Company: The Mill Visual Effects Supervisor: John Leonti
Music Company: Beacon Street Studios Composer: Andrew Feltenstein
The end of August means football season, and football season means ads for football audiences, which eventually leads to Super Bowl commercials. But before we go down the rabbit hole of beer spots, Subway ads, and…twins, we have an ESPN commercial promoting the actual games.
W+K New York handled the creative legwork for “It All Comes Down to Monday Night,” which shows Houston Texans defensive end/athletic monster picking up a fumble and thinking about how everyone is watching him on television. For comic relief, he starts to run down a checklist of some people named Kenny who could be watching: Ken Norton Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Kenny Loggins (who makes a quality cameo). According to ESPN, there will be two more similar spots on the way as the regular season draws closer, so start thinking of celebrities with the same first name who might like to watch football.
Unfortunately, as much as ESPN would like you to believe that it all comes down to Monday night, the truth is that MNF has taken some hits in the ratings over the past few years. These goofy thirty-second spots always play with the same stringy background music, and even if a few of the quips make you smile, they always feel a little dated. Maybe the program could use a tune-up before “It All Comes Down to Monday Night” turns into “Ratings Come Down on Monday Night.”
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.
BBDO New York and Foot Locker know that Clippers forward/dunker Blake Griffin is a commercial machine – Subway, Kia, Jordan Brand to rattle off a few quickly. So for their latest joint venture, “The Endorser,” the creatives decided to physically hook up Griffin to a machine called The Endorser as if he were programmed to place products. For some Lob City support, Clippers point guard/whiner Chris Paul steps in as a foil to turn off the machine and show us the difference between Real Blake and Robot Blake.
The spot is another smart and self-aware sports bit that takes advantage of an athlete’s public persona through subversion. Griffin is usually stone-faced or arrogantly posturing on the court after huge dunks, but he’s built up a quiet niche as a funnyman on television. Just see this Grantland piece from March that discusses why Blake’s comedy is more complex than you might think. The only issue with Blake is overexposure, like, when his sponsorship brands debut separate commercials within the same week. His Jordan “Blake and Drain” spot, which alludes to MJ and Spike Lee ads from twenty years ago, is even better than the Footlocker commercial. And for that reason, “The Endorser” might get lost in the ever-expanding Blake Griffin commercial merry-go-round. Credits after the jump.
ESPN's "This Is SportsCenter" is among the handful of classic sports ad campaigns of all time. Launched in 1995 by Wieden + Kennedy in New York, the campaign—originally inspired by the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap—hasn't changed much over the years. And why would it? You don't mess with a winning formula.
The premise of the ads, as we've noted before, is that ESPN's Bristol, Conn., offices are the center of the sports universe—a surreal yet mundane fantasy world where athletes and mascots live and work together with anchors and journalists. Where other marketers portray athletes as superhuman, "This Is SportsCenter" presents them as comically, relatably human. Eighteen years and more than 400 spots later, the campaign continues.
As part of the Adweek story linked above, W+K drew up a list of its 10 favorite SportsCenter ads. Now, ESPN has one-upped its agency—devoting a whole special to its 50 favorite SportsCenter spots of all time. The show, airing this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET and hosted by Jason Sudeikis, will feature anecdotes and stories about the top 50, and fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite spot over on Facebook. Sudeikis will announce the winning spot on the show. (More than 1 million votes have been cast so far.)
Check out the program on Thursday, and click the link below for a sneak peek at ESPN's official top 10 favorite "This Is SportsCenter" commercials.
The Marijuana Policy Project is spreading its message to Nascar fans by purchasing video ad space on a Jumbotron just outside the entrance to the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis from today through Sunday. Not only that, but the 30-second spot they're running (see below) disparages alcohol multiple times, something that Nascar sponsors Miller Lite and Crown Royal might not be too happy about. The video's specific claims are that marijuana has "no calories … no hangovers … [and] it's not linked to violence or reckless behavior." Drug cartels might have something to say about that last point, but I get what they're trying to say. If the MPP is truly interested in public service, they'll tell Nascar fans where to find decent weed. I grew up in Nascar country, and the stuff they smoke is total garbage.
UPDATE: The ad was pulled after the Drug Free America Foundation complained about it to Grazie Media, which owns the jumbotron. "Grazie Media does not, in any way, shape or form, support the use of marijuana nor the promotion of illegal drugs at a family event," Vanessa Wojtala, CEO and director of programming at Grazie Media, said in a statement.
Those still annoyed by Roxy's sexualized portrayal of a woman athlete will enjoy this more kick-ass 30-second spot for espnW. The first brand promo for the ESPN property, it broke Tuesday night during the premiere of the film Pat XO, part of the network's Nine for IX series. The spot, from creative agency 77 Ventures, was directed by filmmaker Raama Mosley and edited by Therapy Studio's Kristin McCasey. The original soundtrack was written and performed by Greta Gaines exclusively for espnW. Among the athletes featured are Serena Williams, Brittney Griner, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Heather O’Reilly, Shannon Boxx, Sara Errani and Elena Delle Donne.
Surf and sports apparel brand Roxy's teaser ad for the Pro Biarritz 2013 surfing contest, which it's sponsoring, is more about butts than surfing, which hasn't sat well with some viewers. (See what I did there?) More than a few critics have sneered at the ad's focus on the surfer's body instead of her skills, and I have to say, I agree with them. The idea of not showing the woman's face was to have fans guess who she was—turns out it was Stephanie Gilmore, as you can see in the reveal video after the jump. But coming from a company that claims to speak to female athletes, the teaser video pretty much ignored athletics for blatant eye candy, and Roxy's official response to its critics was a non-committal word salad that didn't actually address the main complaint. Besides, it's not like Gilmore would be less attractive or marketable if they actually showed her surfing.
Robinsons isn't the only British brand drafting off Andy Murray's historic win at Wimbledon yesterday. The Adidas ad above, posted to Twitter, is nice and simple and a worthy tribute. The tennis star's other sponsors, including Head and RBS, also congratulated their man on Twitter. Head even used the same headline.
Britain had to wait 77 years—until Sunday's win by Andy Murray—to celebrate another British male singles champion at Wimbledon. So, BBH London should feel fortunate that it had to wait only four years to add the proper ending to its now-famous Wimbledon commercial for Robinsons drinks. The spot, which dreams of the day when a British player would once again win the prestigious London tennis tournament, was originally put together in 2009. Murray made it to the semifinals that year, losing to Andy Roddick. He made it to the semifinals in each of the following two years as well, reaching the final in 2012, only to fall to Roger Federer. This year, finally, he triumphed—over Novak Djokovic. "Worth the wait, wasn't it?" says BBH's newly added voiceover at the end.
I did not. Maybe the trophy will get lucky tonight! RT @jode_d@andy_murray did you go to sleep with the trophy in bed next to you? #AskAndy
CREDITS Client: Britvic Robinsons Campaign Name: Wimbledon "Imagine" Original Client: Lesley Davey, Brand Director Current Client: Helen Gorman, Brand Director
Original Launch: June 1, 2009 Updated Film: July 7, 2013
Original BBH Team: TV Producer: Ben Davies Account Director: Sylvia Pelzer? Account Manager: Corina Cuddihy Account Planner: Nina Rahmatallah Engagement Planner: Darius Karbassion Creative Director: Nick Gill Creative Team: Daniel Schafer, Copywriter; Szymon Rose, Art Director
Original Production Team: Production Company: Blink Director: Benito Montorio Director of Photography: Antonio Paladino Postproduction: Phil Oldham @ Absolute Post Editor, Editing House: Andy Mcgraw @ Cut and Run Sound: Aaron Reynolds @ Wave
Nike's "Just do it" slogan, unveiled 25 years ago this month by Wieden + Kennedy, might be the last great tagline in advertising history.
Yes, other notables have come since—among them, Apple's "Think different" and Volkswagen's "Drivers wanted"—but none have come close to duplicating the cultural impact and mass appeal of "Just do it." I frankly doubt that any ever will.
When 80-year-old Walt Stack jogged across the Golden Gate Bridge in Nike's first "Just do it" spot, chatting about his daily 17-mile run and joking that he kept his teeth from chattering in winter by leaving them in his locker, we lived in a more homogenous media world. At the time it seemed complex and cluttered, with some cable systems sporting 100 or more channels, and the recently launched Fox network broadening the broadcast funnel by 25 percent. All that was small potatoes, however, compared to today's ever-expanding digital/mobile/shareable/wearable mega-sphere, which has turned each consumer into his or her own media production and distribution channel, and to a large extent—despite the vaunted "social" nature of it all—isolated us instead of bringing us together.
Back in '88, a news image, song lyric, sitcom catchphrase or advertising slogan could spring to life in a way that's nearly impossible with today's media fragmentation. Modern content may be "snackable," but for the most part it doesn't stick to the ribs. Most of the lists, memes and apps are quickly, often instantly, discarded. Ideas have no time to build the momentum or gain the traction needed to become ubiquitous or, like "Just do it," beloved.
The "big idea" is, of course, a marketing cliche. It's considered old-school and somewhat outmoded, frequently derided by today's data-driven practitioners. That's a shame. Big ideas are, first and foremost, big. From a brand standpoint, they add rather than subtract, lending weight and substance to campaigns that can become unfocused and diluted by too many moving parts. Big ideas strengthen individual executions and provide platforms that make campaigns more than the sum of their parts.
"Just do it" was one of the biggest ad ideas ever, destined to cut across all conceivable psycho/socio/demographic lines in ways author Dan Wieden couldn't have envisioned when he tossed off the phrase in 20 minutes, concerned that the initial half-dozen ads in the campaign, spotlighting various subjects and different sports, had no unifying message.
"It was a simple thing," Wieden recalls in a 2009 Adweek video interview in which he discusses the effort's genesis. Simplicity is really the secret of all "big ideas," and by extension, great slogans. They must be concisely memorable, yet also suggest something more than their literal meanings. Rather than just putting product notions in people's minds, they must be malleable and open to interpretation, allowing people of all kinds to adapt them as they see fit, and by doing so, establish a personal connection to the brand.
Exchanging tweets is no substitute for helping people think, dream, or in Nike's case do things in a new way. "Just do it" was open to interpretation, and many folks adopted it as their private mantra. And not just in the realm of fitness and exercise. They just did all sorts of things as they strove toward personal goals. These ranged from starting businesses to popping the question, and in some cases extricating themselves from bad relationships. As a result of the line's resonance, Nike's brand image soared.
It's worth noting that "Just do it" is not a typical feel-good marketing tagline. There's a hard-edged, suck-it-up aspect to the phrase that runs counter to most advertising pablum. It's empowering but makes no promises, implying, in fact, that tough, hard work and personal sacrifice might be involved. On that level, it's an honest slogan, more so than most, and that's a big part of its appeal.
Perhaps the line's attitude stems from its ironic and unlikely origin. Wieden says he channeled, of all pop-culture figures, double murderer Gary Gilmore, who in 1977 became the first American executed in a decade, and famously told his executioners "Let's do it!" before facing the firing squad. That says something about the obscure, inexplicable nature of creativity—and brings me to my final point about why we might never see a slogan on the magnitude of "Just do it" again.
Big data doesn't necessarily kill big ideas, but it can thwart inspiration by attempting to quantify the unquantifiable. Because media is so splintered compared to 25 years go, brands will continue to target based on statistics, eschewing bold strokes for brief inroads in the hope of quick sales. Few creative teams "just do it" these days. They study, filter and refine their ideas into narrow bits of communication—lists, memes, apps—which, while seemingly focused and on point, are ultimately fleeting and insubstantial, little more than static.
"Just do it" belongs to an era when brands were brave enough to run with their visions and invite consumers to dream along with them.
Would you like an NHL championship with that? Leo Burnett in Chicago found an appetizing way to support the Blackhawks during their Stanley Cup run this summer, creating a special bus-shelter display for McDonald's featuring custom hockey sticks shaped like french fries. The copy reads, simply, "Go Blackhawks." (McDonald's may have had something of a rooting interest—the company is based in Oak Brook, Ill., after all.) As part of the campaign, the chain will donate hockey sticks (though not the actual ones from the ad) to local youth hockey programs.
Tiger Woods's latest chapter in his blood oath to Nike is this ad from Wieden + Kennedy in which the golfer is compared to a track-and-field competitor, a boxer, a basketball player and a baseball player (referencing Babe Ruth, no less). The idea is to stress golf's athleticism, but all it did for me was reinforce how lethargic golf is compared to sports where people aren't driven around in carts with other people who carry all their stuff. I would like to see how Tiger trains for big tournaments, though, so maybe next time Nike could be less roundabout in its approach. Credits below.
CREDITS Client: Nike Golf Spot "The Sport of Golf"
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Creative Directors: Don Shelford + Rob Thompson Copywriter: Tom Sebanc Art Director: Derrick Ho Producer: Felicia Glover Account Team: Scott Sullivan + Karrelle Dixon Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Production Company: Bob Industries Director: Brad Parker Executive Producer: TK Knowles Line Producer: Melissa Murphy Director of Photography: Morgan Susser
Editorial Company: Joint Editorial Editor: Kyle Valenta Post Producer: Lauren Pullano Post Executive Producer: Patty Brebner
VFX Company: The Mission Executive Producer: Michael Pardee VFX Supervisor: Mark Kolpack VFX Producer: Ryan Meredith CG Lead: Pitor Karwas VFX: Rob Trent
Music Composer: Philip Glass Sound Designer: Jeff Payne Song (if applicable): "67 Cities"
Mix Company: Eleven Sound Mixer: Jeff Payne Producer: Caroline O’Sullivan
Not since I used to play Summer Games on the Commodore 64 have I bludgeoned computer hardware in an effort to complete a simulation of a track-and-field event. But now, thanks to two creatives at Grey London, I can do so again—with The 100-Meter Scroll.
"Usain Bolt holds the record as being the fastest person in the real world—100 meters in an astonishing 9.58 seconds," Rasmus Smith Bech and Jonas Roth tell us in an email. "But who is the fastest person on the Internet? The 100-meter scroll game is made to find out exactly that. It's a website where you scroll 100 meters or 283.500 pixels on time. Scroll for fame, scroll to settle an argument, scroll in the hope it becoming an official 2016 Olympic discipline, or just scroll simply because you love to scroll."
I came in at a lousy 1:00:60. Somebody named "Satan" appears to be atop the leaderboard with what looks like an unbeatable time of less than 1 second.
The outpouring of support has been impressive for NBA player Jason Collins, the first openly gay male athlete in a major U.S. professional sport. Marketers, though, have been largely silent about Collins since yesterday—except for Nike, of course, whom he already endorses. (In a statement, the company said: "We admire Jason's courage and are proud that he is a Nike athlete. Nike believes in a level playing field where an athlete's sexual orientation is not a consideration.") About an hour ago, though, JetBlue posted an image created by its ad agency, Mullen, showing a rainbow image of the "i-people" from the company's "You Above All" brand campaign—to show support for Collins. "Thanks Jason, today we're all on the same team," reads the caption on the image, which was posted to Twitter and Facebook. Response has been mixed, with many fans and followers lauding the airline for supporting Collins and others wishing it had stayed "neutral." The brand's courage here is but a shadow of the player's courage, but it's brave nonetheless. Have other brands come out in support of Collins? Let us know in the comments.
Nathan Sorrell, the heavy kid from Nike's infamous "Jogger" ad by Wieden + Kennedy, has lost 32 pounds since last summer—and plans to lose 30 more. The London, Ohio, native, now 13, returned to the Today show recently and reflected on what motivated him to follow through on a promise he made after the Nike shoot. "I still can't believe that was me then, and this is me now. It just looks a lot different," he says. "I would never have changed my lifestyle if I was never in this commercial. That's not the only reason, but that really did help." Sorrell has been working with a personal trainer and a nutritionist and making healthier choices generally, which has helped him drop from 232 to 200 pounds. On a recent visit to Bob Evans, "I got a turkey sandwich" and a side of fruit, he says. "Usually that would be a double hamburger, cheese and all that bad stuff. Usually, it would be fries. Just stuff like that. Just little changes, but that's obviously carrying me 32 pounds less."
The red-hot pitching arms in Cincinnati are costing one local pizza chain a pretty penny. LaRosa's Pizzeria has already given away $100,000 worth of pizza this season (can't be good for the bottom line) through its "Strikeouts for LaRosa's" campaign with the Reds. The challenge, which is promoted on the Reds scoreboard, is simple enough. Anytime Reds pitchers combine to strike out more than 11 batters in a game at home, every ticket holder gets a free eight-inch pizza valued at $6.79. Not sure which mathematician worked out the algorithm, but 11 K's doesn't seem like much when you have stud starters like Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos and a freak like Aroldis Chapman closing games out. Hope you're hungry, Ohio. Last season, in the first year of the campaign, the Reds had a total of 13 free-pizza games. But this year, just 15 home games into the season, Reds pitchers have K'ed more than 11 batters seven times already. At this rate, it wouldn't surprise me if Ohioans petition to change the Reds logo into a giant pizza.
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