Hasta La Creative!

In case you weren’t feeling quite old enough today, the classic Michael Jordan vs. Looney Tunes drama Space Jam will celebrate its 20th anniversary next November.

But Nike’s newest ad, created by Wieden+Kennedy New York and starring Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin, is a fresh — and pointed — reminder of the 1996 film. 

“The Dunk to End All Dunks” doesn’t feature Jordan himself (though the classic Nike Air icon does get a passing nod), or alas, Bill Murray. But it does star one Marvin the Martian, who seems to think that the universe is only big enough for one “Earth-shattering” dunk master.

While Marvin has his share of space-age toys to help him reach the rim despite his diminutive three-foot frame, Griffin has his own secret weapon. Naturally, it’s a brand new pair of Jordan Super.Fly 4 sneakers, which launch this week.

The original Space Jam was the highest-grossing basketball film in history, having earned more than $90 million domestically in 1996 dollars (sorry, Hoop Dreams). So, the question follows: is a Space Jam 2 in the works? 

Warner Brothers strongly hinted at a “yes” by filing several new trademarks for the Space Jam brand in June, mere weeks before the studio announced a new “content creation partnership” with Jordan’s natural successor, LeBron James. The deal between James’ SpringHill Entertainment and the Warner Bros. family includes plans for “TV, film and original digital programming.“

LeBron recently proved that he can act by stealing several scenes in the Amy Schumer vehicle Trainwreck, and his company has already produced a TV doc series, a digital-only reality title, a “scripted drama on Starz” and an unnamed NBC prime-time game show.

When asked whether he would star in a potential Space Jam sequel during a Twitter Q&A last month, James teased fans with a “we’ll have to wait and see,” which could very easily mean “of course I will.”

Nike isn’t quite as shy. Along with this new campaign, the footwear giant created a microsite naming Marvin the Martian as a member of its extended family of athletes/spokespeople and tracing his plans to use the power of the Super.Fly 4 to destroy that “troublesome little planet” we call Earth once and for all (complete with his own merchandise). The inaugural ad for the new Air line was also directed by Jon Favreau of Iron Man fame, who might just be the perfect Hollywood lifer to helm a new big-budget basketball flick.

And what about Blake Griffin? He isn’t just Nike’s new spokesperson: he’s also performed at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory and made appearances on nearly every late-night show. At the very least, he should have a supporting role in a franchise that he calls “a big part of my life.” Right, Charles Barkley?

Even if the sequel doesn’t come to pass, get ready to see the Space Jam name and logo on everything from “comedy and/or drama features” to “lithographs,” “mounted and/or unmounted photographs” and “printed patterns for costumes, pajamas, sweatshirts and t-shirts,” according to the trademark filings. And per the Martian himself, we can expect more Blake-and-Marvin ads from W+K to launch before opening night.

This is just the beginning, Earthlings! -Marvin

— Jordan (@Jumpman23) August 2, 2015

CREDITS

Client: Jordan Brand   
Advertising agency: Wieden+Kennedy New York
Executive Creative Directors: Jaime Robinson, David Kolbusz   
Creative Directors: Jimm Lasser, Gary Van Dzura, Mike Giepert   
Art Director: Jed Heuer   
Copywriter: Al Merry, Laddie Peterson   
Producer: Alison Hill   
Assistant Producer: Kristen Johnson, Lisa Delonay   
Head of Integrated Production: Nick Setounski   
Account Team: Jerico Cabaysa, Jonathan Chu   
Media Team: Karlo Cordova, Justin Lam, Branden Bouvia   
Strategic Planner: Stéphane Missier    
Project Manager: Sunjoo Ryou   
Business Affairs Team: Sara Jagielski, Sonia Bisono, Carolina Hernandez, Lindsey Timko 
  
Production Company: Pacific Rim Films   
Director: Jon Favreau   
Executive Producer, UPM: Annie Johnson   

Editorial Company: Arcade Edit   
Editor: Geoff Hounsell, Will Hassell   
Executive Producer and Managing Partner: Damian Stevens
Executive Producer: Nicole Visram      

Visual Effects Company: The Mill, New York   
Executive Producer: Zu Al-Kadiri, The Mill   
Producer: Katie Kolombatovich   
Shoot Supervisor: Westley Sarokin and Ed Boldero   
Creative Director: Westley Sarokin  

Animation: Warner Bros Animation   
Producer / Director: Spike Brandt   
Line Producer: Monica Mitchell   
Animators: Spike Brandt, Dale Baer, Dan Haskett, John McClenahan, Jeff Siergey, Neal Sternecky, Bill Waldman, Dean Wellins   
 
Music Company: tonefarmer   
President/Partner/Producer: Tiffany Senft   
Founder/Composer: Raymond Loewy   
Composers: Jared Hunter, Sam Skarstad, Raymond Loewy   
Sound Designer: Jimmy Harned   
Production Manager: Elizabeth Munoz 

Mix Company: Sonic Union

Are you up for some BGCP3TV in HD?

Los Angeles Clippers stars Blake Griffin and Chris Paul have each shown, separately, that they can anchor comedy. In State Farm’s Chris and Cliff campaign, Paul showed that he’s perhaps the NBA’s most gifted endorser. And Griffin? Well, he’s done so much comedy that he has his own section on Funny or Die.

Now, they’ve teamed up for an interesting project from Wieden + Kennedy New York and Jordan Brand—a pair of five-minute videos that are full of quirky comedy sketches. Both are pretty amusing—not surprising, since Neal Brennan, co-creator of The Chappelle Show, served as director and co-writer on these.

Griffin and Paul are launching new shoes a month apart, but these sketches are a whole lot more entertaining than some action footage would have been.

W+K’s Eric Helin wrote some sketches, as did Brennan. There wasn’t too much improvising—most of what you see was on the page, though Griffin and Paul made it their own. “I’ve worked with a ton of athletes and can honestly say Blake & Chris are among the best,” said Gary Van Dzura, W+K creative director. “They’re natural in front of the camera and have a great comedic timing.”

“Pretty much what you see is what you get,” Brennan added. “They’re friends who clearly spend a lot of time together. They like and respect each other and are used to making jokes all day. I was also amazed at how quickly they were able to memorize the material.”

Asked if there was a limit to how goofy he wanted the sketches to be, Brennan said: “One of the sketches that got cut out was super crazy. But I don’t think anybody really thought of them as crazy/not crazy. At least I didn’t. I just thought of them as tonally correct and funny/not funny. The Ohhh Bros. sketch is about guys whose lives are ruined by reacting to basketball plays. That’s pretty crazy.”

CREDITS
Client: Jordan Brand
Project: BGCP3TV in HD
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, David Kolbusz
Creative Directors: Gary Van Dzura, Jimm Lasser
Writer: Eric Helin
Art Director: Erwin Federizo
Head of Content Production: Nick Setounski
Producer: Orlee Tatarka
Account Team: Jerico Cabaysa, Price Manford, Heather Morba, Cory McCollum
Business Affairs: Sara Jagielski
Production Company: Go Films
Director: Neal Brennan (Director & Co-Writer)
Executive Producer/COO: Gary Rose
Executive Producer: Adam Bloom
Line Producer: Marc Benardout
Director of Photography: Chuck Ozeas
Editorial Company: Starch Media
Editor: Bijan Shams,  Scott Ashby, Jeremy Hsu
Post Producer: Susan Applegate
VFX Company: Stardust & Elastic
VFX Lead Flame: Alex Frisch
Telecine Company: MPC LA
Colorist: Ricky Gausis
Mix Company: Eleven
Mixer: Jeff Payne & Ben Freer
Producer: Susanne Hollingshead
Song: “Junkyard”  (Original Composition)
Artist: James Poyser

Slam poetry nights can be awkward, but Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin makes it look easy—his specialty in any environment—in a new series of videos for Vizio.

The ads, by David&Goliath, have the basketball star waxing poetic about his bobblehead, his tearaway pants and even his mouthguard. He’s got the requisite pauses and sighs down to an art. Still, he probably shouldn’t quit his day job.

The clips are part of Vizio’s slam dunk poetry campaign, which also includes a nifty feature on its microsite where it will compose a Griffin-esque poem based on your name and an item of your choice. Unfortunately, the power forward isn’t available to recite these ditties. (He is available in gif form on this Tumblr, though.)

So, grab yourself a seat at a dimly lit table, order a stiff drink and appreciate these works brought to you by Griffin.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Vizio

Agency: David&Goliath
Founder & Chairman: David Angelo
Chief Creative Officer: Colin Jeffery
Group Creative Director: Ben Purcell
Group Creative Director: Steve Yee
Art Director: Mike Cornell
Copywriter: Andy Sciamanna
Head of Production: Carol Lombard
Agency Executive Producer:  Curt O’Brien
Agency Executive Producer: Christopher Coleman
Group Account Director: Jennifer Mull
Account Supervisor: Kammie Dons
Assistant Account Executive: Karolyne Crowe
Director of Business Affairs: Rodney Pizarro
Associate Business Affairs Manager: Camara Price

Production Company: RSA Films, Inc.
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Director of Photography: Mike Berlucci
President: Jules Daly
VP/Executive Producer: Marjie Abrahams
Executive Producer: Philip Detchmendy
Line Producer: Alejandra Quesada
Head of Production: Elicia Laport
Sales Representative: Shortlist

Editorial House: Spinach
Editor: Tony Orcena
Producer: Jonathan Carpio

Online & Color: Fell VFX
Flame Artist: Russell Fell
Executive Producer: Rachel Koch

Music: Human Music
Sound Design & Mix: Margarita Mix
Sound Engineer: Nathan Dubin

Back in October, we brought you news of David&Goliath’s new campaign for Kia Optima starring L.A. Clippers power forward Blake Griffin and Jack McBrayer (an actor best known for his work on 30 Rock) as a superhero team saving people from non-Kia purchases. We were a bit disappointed with the initial spot, but hoped that the spot’s title “Trailer” indicated it was just a teaser for things to come. Now, David&Goliath have released two new spots for the campaign, “Zipline” (featured above) and “Apologize to You.” Unfortunately, both fail to live up to the potential of the premise.

“Zipline” features Blake Griffin and sidekick Jack McBrayer crashing in on a lame Internet shopping session. They present the Optima as a better option, to a man who is understandably freaked out by this series of events. Griffin and McBrayer have good chemistry together, but the spot fails to capitalize on it and ultimately falls flat. It might help if the two interacted more, instead of seemingly splitting screen time in separate shots.

That “Zipline” is actually the better of the two spots should tell you something about “Apologize to You.” The spot features Griffin and a fire extinguisher-wielding McBrayer demanding a passerby apologize for not selecting the Optima. It’s repetitive to say the least, lacking any real substance in exchange for a failed attempt at cheap laughs. Hopefully, the folks over at David&Goliath can rebound from these efforts, as we still think this campaign has the potential to be funny. Credits and “Apologize to You” after the jump. continued…

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Blake Griffin does a lot of commercials. A lot. The NBA All-Star has jumped over cars, traveled through time and run the court with a no-game street baller named Drain. In his latest spot, "The Endorser," with Chris Paul, for Foot Locker, Blake is a pitch machine on steroids (ahem, A-Rod). So, how does he separate business from pleasure? Simple, with the flip of a switch. Thanks CP3! If this is anything like his previous campaigns for Kia, AT&T or Jordan, I'm sure we can expect Griffin and Foot Locker to team up for a few more comical spots. Now, if only we could all time travel so we didn't have to wait. Agency: BBDO, New York

On Monday night, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul hit a 15-foot bank shot as time expired to put his team up 2-0 over the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs. You should have seen it—it was really cool.

You know what’s even cooler? The fact that Chris Paul finally met his long-lost brother who we learned existed during the holiday season. Finally, State Farm and agency Translation’s sick little experiment, which included separating twins at a young age and documenting their lives for over two decades in the name of insurance, is coming to an end. Finally, Chris Paul can be at peace. And, finally, Cliff Paul has enough money to quit his job at State Farm once an for all, pursuing a new career of professional moocher.

However, having established a reputation for inhumane cruelty, don’t count out the possibility that Translation isn’t done toiling in the lives of the brothers Paul. Sure, they may have reunited the twins, but that doesn’t mean that before the NBA Finals, Cliff is “accidentally” run over by an uninsured driver. I’m just saying, if Blake Griffin shows up to Cliff’s funeral wearing an argyle sweater in a few months, don’t be surprised. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.