Olympic advertising is as old as old can be. Stockholm was running Pro-Sweden ads for the Olympics as far back as 1912. The original poster, designed by Olle Hjortzberg’s design, featured a lot of nudity and even with a couple of orange streamers were well-placed, the poster was banned. Today of course, the banners wouldn’t be necessary, but the ads would be banned for being Pro-Sweden. (It’s a joke. Ask the Hyper Island graduates at your agency.)
Back in April, Nike Women launched its popular “Better for It” motivational campaign in the U.S. Now, the sportswear giant is expanding the tagline in Russia.
A half-dozen new spots from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam feature the same playful attitude and general message—that the benefits of exercise outweigh the challenge—but take a slightly different tone, as you might expect from ads that feature professional athletes instead of the average exercisers represented in the U.S. work.
The camera work, from director Carlos Serrao, is a little more dramatic in its attention to detail, with scenes like yogi Olga Markes holding a particularly brutal pose while dripping sweat and boxer Kate Izotova getting punched in the face while sparring (a moment featured, naturally, in slow motion).
The copy, meanwhile, comes across as less overtly vulnerable than in the U.S. ads, where women explicitly tolerated their own misery (largely manifest as insecurity) for the promise of self-improvement in the end. Instead, the Russian athletes seem to be a bit more defiant in their vanity—embracing pain in pursuit of perfection or glory.
“What are you doing here?” says Izotova’s voiceover. “You could have stayed at home, been someone’s trophy…. Screw that. I’ll earn my own trophy.”
In other words, the ads hew more closely to traditional endorser-driven sports marketing (even if they’re not celebrities with wide global name recognition)—a strategy that speaks more of a “Be like this” inspirational strategy than a “We know it’s hard but we’re with you” motivational one.
In addition to the pro athlete ads, Nike also turned Instagram posts of real girls working out into street posters around Moscow. Indeed, the campaign’s title is “Real Girls of Moscow,” and it aims to capture the spirit of what Nike describes as a growing sports movement in Russia, featuring women who are “free-thinking and free-spirited,” and “are more comfortable in sneakers than heels, preferring exercise to fad diets.”
Whether drawing that kind of line—or calling a bunch of accomplished women, at least four of whom are in their 20s and 30s, “girls”—is a smart or deliberately provocative move isn’t clear. But it is at least understandable, given the brand sells selling running shoes that also tend to double as fashion statements—and not stilettos.
Regardless, Nike is also touting a 25,000-person turnout for a 10-day sporting event at Gorky Park in Moscow. And the new campaign features top athletes in a broad range of disciplines (ballet, choreography, long-jumping, skateboarding and sprinting) showing up variously on giant outdoor murals, and in nifty GIFs for online distribution—probably because if you really want to do that sweet kickflip, you’re going to have to get used to doing it over and over again, stuck on infinite loop, for the rest of time.
CREDITS
Client: Nike
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
Executive Creative Director: Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy
Creative Director: David Smith, Alvaro Sotomayor, Craig Williams
Art Director: Ignasi Tudela
Copywriter: Zoe Hawkins
Head of Content : Joe Togneri
Planner: Danny Feeney, Michelle Arrazcaeta
Communications Planner: Josh Chang
Group Account Director: Kirk Johnsen
Account Director: Kathryn Addo
Senior Account Manager: Jorge Fesser
Broadcast production / Head of Art Buying : Maud Klarenbeek
Art buying / broadcast production: Javier Perroud
Head of Studio: Jackie Barbour
Retoucher: Dario Fusnecher
Project Manager: Janna Harrington
Business Affairs: Michael Graves
Production Company: Terrie Tanaka Management
Director/Photographer: Carlos Serrao
Director of Photography: Monica May
Producer: Amy Lynne
Executive Producer: Terrie Tanaka
Vogue Shoot Make-up: Mark Williamson at artist-management using Mac
Vogue Shoot hair: Hanjee at Jed Root for Hanjee Hair Gallery
Editing Company: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Sam Gunn
Audio Post: Wave Amsterdam
Sound Designer/Mixer: Alex Nicholls-Lee
Music: Glintshake / MassiveMusic
Katya Izotova: Glintshake
Olga Markes: Glintshake
Adelina Sotnikova: MassiveMusic
Diana Vishneva: MassiveMusic
Darya Klishina: MassiveMusic
Postproduction: Glassworks
Flame: Morten Vinther
Telecine: Scott Harris
Producer: Jane Bakx
Media Buy: Mindshare Russia
Digital Production + Social Activation: Instinct BBDO Moscow
Russian Translation
Inner voice: If you wanted a mud mask, you should have tried the spa.
Her voice: Sometimes you’ve got to get dirty if you want to shine.
Russian Translation:
Inner Voice: Okay, are you mental? If you want to feel good, just go for some retail therapy or the beauty salon.
(on phone:) You have one minute to go.
Her voice: Yeah, maybe. But there are some things you can’t fake.
Russian Translation.
Inner Voice: Argh it’s like concrete!
Her voice: Oh well. Black and blue makes gold.
Russian Translation:
Inner voice: What are you doing here? You could’ve stayed at home, been someone’s trophy.
Her voice: Screw that. I’ll earn my own trophy.
Translation:
Inner Voice: Alright, enough. They would say it’s fine. No one will notice a thing.
Her Voice: But you’ll notice. Now, again.
Under Armour couldn’t sit idly by on Tuesday when Misty Copeland was named the first African American principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre’s 75-year history—not after the famous TV spot that helped burnish both dancer and brand.
The sports apparel brand organized a social congratulations campaign, beginning with this simple tweet:
Thousands of tweets later—including love notes from UA NFL star Eddie Lacy and Zappos—and the brand had an SUV full of flowers to deliver to Copeland, who was clearly thrilled by the gift.
More pics below.
A super-fast sneaker deserves a super-fast commercial, and Wieden + Kennedy delivers one here for the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8 running shoe. Blink and you’ll miss it.
The 60-second “Find Your Fast” spot—directed by Neal Brennan, co-creator of the Chappelle Show, who also did this fun campaign for Jordan Brand—features 13 all-star athletes getting their speed on. The larger “Find Your Fast” campaign challenges runners everywhere to log their fastest-ever mile by Aug. 30 through the Nike+ community.
If the spot itself is fast, there’s a spot-within-the-spot that’s even faster—a quirky little old-timey diversion starring Kobe Bryant and the magician David Blaine.
Check out the spot below, and the list of athletes below that.
• Kobe Bryant: 5-time NBA champion (basketball)
• Wayne Rooney: 3-time England player of the year (soccer)
• Richard Sherman: Super Bowl champion (football)
• Marlen Esparza: Olympic bronze Medalist (boxing)
• Odell Beckam Jr.: Offensive rookie of the year (football)
• Rafael Nadal: 14-Time Grand Slam champion (tennis)
• Serena Williams: 20-Time Grand Slam champion (tennis)
• Marcus Mariota: 2nd overall NFL draft pick (football)
• Katarina Johnson Thompson: 2014 world No. 1, heptathlon (track and field)
• Shane O’Neill: Pro Skater (skateboarding)
• Mo Farah: Olympic Gold Medalist: 5,000M/10,000M (track and field)
• Allyson Felix: Olympic Gold Medalist: 200M/4x100M/4x400M (track and field)
• Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce: Olympic gold medalist,100M (track and field)
The most interesting thing about this ad is that it’s made by Thousands Creative, a two man shop of former Nike people in Portland, Oregon. So fresh on the scene that they only have a spartan tumblr site, this creative team managed to take a chunk of Nike work as their main client.
By the way, #runmore is a larger initiative designed to get the cool kids off the sofa and into a pair of running shoes. There’s even a website called Run More with motivational slogans, neat imagery, the above film and some Spotify playlists designed to get you running. Eventually you can add your own playlist, too.
Foot Locker is happy it can finally celebrate the upcoming Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight—for real.
Last fall, the shoe store released a commercial in which Pacquiao thought Mayweather had agreed to face him in the ring (when in reality, two guys he overheard at a gym were actually talking about a different wildly anticipated event … a sale at the retailer).
But now, with details of the May 2 match finalized—both fighters were committed as of February after years of failed negotiations, though an 11th hour impasse between promoters wasn’t resolved until Wednesday—Foot Locker is patting itself on the back for the old spot by running a new one, in which Pacquaio revisits the ups and downs of his false hope.
The boxer gets credit for self-deprecating charm, even if the whole thing is like the Russian nesting dolls version of a Foot Locker commercial. And while he may be confused in the end, rest assured that—as a manager type explains—the fight is, in fact, really happening.
That, even if the $90 pay per view price ($100 to watch the pros beat the crap out of each other in high definition) costs about the same as a pair of sneakers.
Check out the 2014 spot here:
CREDITS
Client: Foot Locker
Agency – BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide – David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York – Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director – Chris Beresford-Hill
Executive Creative Director – Dan Lucey
Copywriter – Mike Motch
Art Director – Austin Mankey
Director of Integrated Production – David Rolfe
Executive Producer – Anthony Curti
WW Senior Account Director – Troy Tarwater
Account Director – Janelle Van Wonderen
Account Manager – Nick Robbins
Account Executive – Samuel Henderson
Production Co – O Positive Films
Director – Kenny Herzog
Exec Producer – Ralph Laucella
Exec Producer – Marc Grill
Line Producer – Grayson Bithell
Director of Photography – Marc Laliberte
Editorial – MackCut
Editor – Erik Laroi
Executive Producer – Sasha Hirshfeld
Assistant Editor – Patrick Blumer
Sound – MackCut
Sound Mixer – Sam Shaffer
Online – Smigital
Flame – Jim Hayhow
Asst. Flame – Joseph Miller
Color – Company 3
Colorist – Tim Masick
Nike’s newest commercial captures the inner dialogue of a woman stuck behind a row of models during swim class; a runner through a half-marathon; and a beginner yogi unsure of her surroundings.
The spot, by Wieden + Kennedy, launches a campaign called #betterforit, which Nike says is its largest initiative yet in supporting and motivating women’s athletic journeys. It’s about “powering [women] to be better through services, product innovation and athlete inspiration, motivating each other to push to the next level,” the company says.
It’s a light, fun approach in contrast to more motivational Nike spots of the past, and it seems to be resonating with the average athlete. From the YouTube comments: “It’s not often I love commercials. But this one reminds us that everyone has insecurities and that we can accomplish anything, and I think that’s a really special thing to focus on in an ad.”
This first spot, “Inner Thoughts,” aired during the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night. It looks like Nike is positioning “Better for it” as the less aggressive (but maybe equally motivating) alternative to “Just do it.”
More videos and images below, plus credits.
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CREDITS
Client: Nike
Project: “Better For It”
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte / Ryan O’Rourke / Dan Viens
Copywriter: Heather Ryder / Darcie Burrell
Art Director: Patty Orlando
Producer: Molly Tait / Julie Gursha
Executive Agency Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Interactive Strategy: Jocelin Shalom
Strategic Planning: Tom Suharto / Irina Tone
Media/Comms Planning: Emily Dalton / Destinee Scott / Emily Graham
Account Team: Karrelle Dixon / Alyssa Ramsey / Marisa Weber / Jim Zhou
Business Affairs: Anna Beth Nagel
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff / Joe Staples
Production Company: Iconoclast
Director: Matthew Frost
Executive Producer: Charles-Marie Anthonioz
Line Producer: Caroline Pham
Director of Photography: Darren Lew / Joost Van Gelder
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall (“Inner Thoughts” :60 and :30) / Grant Surmi (:30/:15s)
Post Producer: Jared Thomas
Post Executive Producer: Angela Dorian
VFX Company: A52
VFX Supervisor: Jesse Monsour
Flame Artist: Brendan Crockett / Matt Sousa / Steve Wolf / Dan Ellis / Richard Hirst
VFX Producer: Jamie McBriety
Color: Paul Yacono
Music Supervision: Nylon Studios
Artist: Apollo 100
Track: Joy
Sound Designer: Barking Owl
Mix Company: Lime Studios
Mixer: Matt Miller / Dave Wagg
Producer: Jessica Locke / Susie Boyajan
Some people complain that modern baseball games last too long, but the one in this Japanese ad for Toyota’s G cars will make you root for extra innings.
Salarymen and businesswomen push fantastical red “G” buttons positioned around midtown, and the action begins. Soon, balls are flying off bats toward skyscrapers, and office-attired players are diving across concrete (ouch!) to make dazzling catches. They use manhole covers for bases, and a traffic cop (I think) serves as an umpire. At one point, Warren Cromartie, a former star in the U.S. who was much more popular when he played in Japan, argues a call. You tell ’em, Cro!
The final at-bat features an airborne Prius in a grandstand play of epic proportions—truly a towering drive.
Dubbed “Baseball Party,” the film has deservedly earned almost 3.5 million YouTube views in Japan in two weeks. And there’s a behind-the-scenes clip, naturally.
Sure, the connection between the brand and baseball is tenuous, to say the least, but the two-and-a-half-minute commercial is such exhilarating fun, only a mean-spirited boo-bird would object. You might shout, “Let’s play two!” and watch it again.
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