‘The Hardest Commercial I Have Ever Edited.’ How Nike Created Its Split-Screen Masterpiece

This story is unlocked to all users until 12 p.m. ET today. To unlock all of Adweek’s exclusive reporting, please consider an Adweek Pro Membership. The best advertising ideas are often simple in concept but fiendishly difficult in execution. On such a scale, this one might have surpassed them all. Nike’s “You Can’t Stop Us”…

The Nike Mag Self-Lacing Sneakers Are Finally Here, but They're Only Making 89 Pairs

The Nike Mag self-lacing sneakers from Back to the Future II are finally a reality—27 years after the movie, five years after Nike built a Mag prototype, and seven months after it announced a different self-lacing shoe altogether.

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W+K Portland Salutes the ‘Unlimited Greatness’ of Serena Williams for Nike

W+K Portland concluded the Olympics-push portion of its “Unlimited” campaign for Nike with “Unlimited Will,” starring Kyle Maynard, although the brand subsequently released two spots made in collaboration with production company Dirty Robber, “Unlimited Pursuit” and “Unlimited Scout Basset.”

Now W+K turns its attention to Serena Williams ahead of this weekend’s U.S. Open Championship, celebrating the tennis icon’s “Unlimited Greatness” and staking a claim for her as the greatest athlete ever. That claim is sure to spark debate, and while it may seem a bit futile to compare athletes across both sports and eras, Williams has certainly dominated her sport to such a degree that it doesn’t come across as completely ridiculous.

Before getting to that point, W+K Portland communicates how far Williams has come through simple words such as “Compton,” “sister,” “pro,” “#304,” “top ten,” “#1,” “injured,” “comeback” and “legend.” Finally the words “greatest female athlete ever” appear onscreen, before the “female” is erased from that claim. As Adweek points out, that decision was likely inspired by a Wimbledon press conference two months ago when Williams was asked by a reporter how she felt about going down as “one of the greatest female athletes of all time” and responded “I prefer the words ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time.’”

It makes for a pretty powerful moment, as regardless of how dubious any claim to such a title is by its very nature, it effectively communicates that Williams refuses to be defined by her gender. Nike also worked with a variety of athletes, as well as comedian Kevin Hart on a longer video offering words of encouragement to Serena as she prepares to compete at the U.S. Open.

Nike Calls Serena Williams the Greatest Athlete Ever in This Striking U.S. Open Ad

At a press conference at Wimbledon in July, a reporter asked Serena Williams how she felt about going down in the history books as “one of the greatest female athletes of all time.” She responded simply, “I prefer the words ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time.’ “

With just a few words, the winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles was able to combat the sublte sexism that permeates how female athletes are treated by the media.

Now, just two months later, Nike uses that moment as inspiration for its latest 60-second spot, a celebration of all that makes Williams great, timed to the U.S. Open. 

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W+K Shanghai Ushers in ‘The Next Wave’ for Nike China

Here’s a notable ad we didn’t get to last week: W+K Shanghai launched a new 90-second spot for Nike China entitled “The Next Wave” that takes a fresh look at the “Just Do It” tagline.

The spot opens with young boy who handles a soccer ball with some impressive footwork. “You don’t have to do it for the glory,” begins the voiceover as he opens the front door to his school by kicking the ball at it and deftly slides down the railing. As the spot continues, the action quickly but smoothly shifts from athlete to athlete, each offering up a different ending to “You don’t have to do it…” line, from “to be famous” to “the boys” to “for the attention.” At the end of the spot, the action returns to the boy from the beginning, who concludes “All we said was, ‘Just Do It.’”

In between amateur and professional athletes of all kinds are represented, from a group of acrobatic parkour enthusiasts to women playing basketball to a roller hockey squad and an elderly marathon runner.

In the wrong hands, the approach could easily become disorienting and fall apart. Instead W+K Shanghai, Stink Films Shanghai and director Martin Krejci created a captivating spot that injects some new life into the well-worn tagline. Credit the epic scope, perfect pacing, impressive choreography and, of course, some talented athletes. The broadcast spot will be supported by digital and OOH  components. 

“We shot this film in a single-take style, and it took a lot of long shots with very complicated choreography to pull it off,” W+K Shanghai creative director Shaun Sundholm explained to Adweek. “That meant we had everyday athletes playing side by side with famous athletes, balls flying everywhere, people crashing into each other. It was near chaos at times. But in the end, we combined all of their energy into one infectious massive wave of sport.”

“Growing up in China, I was surrounded by people who simply used the English words ‘Just Do It’ as a punch line without knowing what it really means,” added W+K Shangai business director Dino Xu. “It’s great that in this campaign, the provocative voiceover lines help to define what it is, by saying what it isn’t.”

The campaign is the latest attention-grabbing spot from Wieden+Kennedy outside the U.S. market, following on the heels of W+K Tokyo’s “Don’t Know Your Place” earlier this month.

Credits: 
Client: Nike China
Campaign Name: 2016 Nike JDI campaign
Main Anthem: “The Next Wave”
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai
Executive Creative Director: Yang Yeo
Creative Director: Terence Leong, Azsa West, Shaun Sundholm
Art Directors: Christian Laniosz, Marc Garreta
Copywriters: TJ Walthall, Liu Wei, Max Pilwat
Director of Integrated Production: Angie Wong
Head of Content: Bernice Wong
Producer: Fang Yuan
Art Producer: Xuan Ong
Planning Director: Paula Bloodworth
Senior Planner: Leon Lin
Digital Strategist: Bill Tang
Business Director: Dino Xu
Associate Account Director: Jim Zhou
Sr. Account Executive: Shawn Kai
Project Manager: Nicole Bee
Business Affairs: Jessica Deng, Kathy Zhan
Senior Designer: Patrick Rockwell
Designers: Wendy Yu, Deer CL
Production Manager: Vic Zhang
Digital Imaging Artist: Changqing Lee
FA Artist: Bin Liu
Campaign Summary Sheet
Production Company: Stink Films Shanghai
Director: Martin Krejci
Director’s Producer: Justine Madero
1st Assistant Director: James Skotchdopole
1st Assistant Director (Local): Hank Zeng
Director of Photography: Dimitri Karakatsanis
CAM A Operator / Gimbal Ninja: Florian Hatwagner
Executive Producer: Desmond Loh
Executive Producer: Brenda Tham
Producer: Juliana Chung
Production Manager: Charles Renard
Production Manager: Evie Yeo
Beijing Line Producer: Xiao Yu
Production Assistant: Haze Zhu
Celebrity Handler/Fixer: Emma Sun
CAM A Focus Puller/1st AC: Albert Wang
Drone operator: Zhang Teng Sen
Q Take: Marcus Peh
Taipei Production Support: Episode Films
Hong Kong Production Support: Spur Link
Beijing & Hong Kong Art Director: Yao Jun
Taiwan Art Director: Daymon Wu
Wardrobe Stylist: Julian Mei
Postproduction: Lost Planet Editorial, L.A.
Editorials: Hank Corwin, Federico Brusilovsky
Post Executive Producer: Gary Ward
Post Producer: Aimee Crook
Assistant Editor: Jason Dopko
VFX Artist/Supervisor: Glenn Teel
Color: The Mill, London
Colorist: Seamus O’Kane
Producer: Dan Kreeger
Campaign Summary Sheet
Music: Barking Owl, L.A.
Composer: Seth Olinsky
Sound Design (L.A.):
Sound Designer: Eugene Gearty
Mixing (L.A.):
Mixer: Chris Jenkins
Audio VO Production: TZ Studio, Shanghai
Producer: Joyce Chen
Engineer: Hu Yuan

Nike and Dirty Robber Celebrate the ‘Unlimited Pursuit’ of Female Olympians

While last Friday’s “Unlimited Will” spot was the final entry in W+K Portland’s contribution to Nike’s “Unlimited” campaign, it appears the brand had one more final effort in the campaign. Nike worked with production company Dirty Robber (who worked on last month’s “Unlimited Serena Williams“) on “Unlimited Pursuit,” which, to its benefit, doesn’t attempt the meta voiceover approach of its W+K-crafted predecessors.

Instead, the spot relies on the actions of its impressive athletes: Scout BassettSimone BilesElena Delle DonneGabby DouglasAllyson Felix, Dafne SchippersShelly-Ann Fraser-PryceEnglish Gardner, Alex Morgan and Serena Williams. Set to Lissie‘s cover of Kid Cudi‘s “Pursuit of Happiness,” the spot documents each of its athletes in training. Needless to say, these women pull of some impressive feats while preparing for competition, with “Pursuit of Happiness” providing appropriate accompaniment and the actions resonating more absent the schticky voiceover gimmick.

It’s the kind of spot that could only really be pulled off at the conclusion of games, as viewers are now familiar with all these athletes and their stories. The spot functions as a reminder of the kind of hard work and determination that got these impressive athletes to where they are, with no need to deliberate on individual narratives.

Its focus on celebrating women athletes is an admirable one, particularly at a time when the different ways in which female and male athletes are covered is under scrutiny. Plus, Biles’ glance after sticking a perfect landing is a pretty ideal way to conclude the campaign.

Credits:
Nike Creative Director: Tad Greenough
Production Company/Agency: Dirty Robber
Exec Prod: Jason Puris
Exec Prod: Chris Uettwiller
Creative director: Martin Desmond Roe & Nick Frew
Post production Company: Coyote Post
Post production supervisor: Carlos Gonzalez
Editor: Celeste Diamos

W+K New York Teams Up With Chance the Rapper for Nike Basketball’s ‘Unlimited’

Weiden + Kennedy continues its full-court press for Nike with W+K New York’s collaboration with Chance the Rapper, “Unlimited Together.”

The spot, essentially a branded music video for Nike promoting Team USA basketball, features the new Chance the Rapper track “We the People,” inspired by the Star Spangled Banner. Shot in black and white, the spot features Chance the Rapper delivering lines from the somewhat somber song, along with shots of Team USA men’s and women’s basketball teams. Both the song and ad act as a call for unity as the teams aim for gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

In addition to the spot, Nike Basketball shot the men’s and women’s teams together for the official Olympics USA Basketball team photo, taken by photographer Danny Clinch. The shot is being promoted across  Nike Basketball’s social channels. Additionally, “We The People” will be available for download on iTunes and SoundCloud beginning tomorrow and will stream on Spotify beginning this Friday. 

Credits:
W+K NEW YORK
Executive Creative Director: Karl Lieberman
Creatives: Caleb Jensen + Jimm Lasser
Project Manager: Kristin Daly
Head of Content Production: Nick Setounski
Producer: Dominic Tunon
Director of Art Production: Deb Rosen
Art Producer: Pietro Clemente
Strategist: Brandon Thornton
Account Team: Jordan Muse + Liz Lindberg
Business Affairs Team: Sara Jagielski + Lindsey Timko + Tana Prosper
Media Team: Karlo Cordova, Branden Bouvia, Chad Muratev
Traffic Team: Sonia Bisono

PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCTION
Production Company: Urban NYC
Photographer: Danny Clinch
Executive Producer: Miyazu Sato
Production Designer: Tom McMillan @ Bednark Studio

PHOTOGRAPHY RETOUCHING
Retouching Company: 150 Proof
Retouching Manager: Chris McClelland
Retouchers: Jesse Corinella, Kevin Walker
Print Producer: David Niblick

FILM PRODUCTION
Production Company: Doomsday
Director: Hiro Murai
Executive Producer: Danielle Hinde
Line Producer: Jason Colon
Director of Photography: Larkin Seiple
Production Designer: Eric Archer

FILM EDITORIAL
Editorial: Company Parallax
Editor: Luke Lynch
Executive Producer: Graham Zeller
Editorial Assistant: Kyle Gilbertson, Rene Vargas­Madrigal
Colorist: Bossi Baker
Sound Mix: Unbridled Sound
Compositing: Graham Zeller
Clean up artist: Jared Abel
Sound Mix: Unbridled Sound
Projection editing: Luke Lynch, Taylor Ward, Laith Majali

MUSIC
Song: “We The People”
Artist: Chance The Rapper

W+K Portland Goes Off the Rails for Nike

With the 2016 Rio Olympics opening today, W+K Portland launched a new spot for Nike as the latest in its “Unlimited” campaign for the brand.

The spot, entitled “Unlimited You” starts out familiarly enough, with a voiceover introducing a baby who will “win a state championship one day.” Things get unusual fairly quickly, however, as the voiceover’s next subject asks, “Who will? Me?” when he hears that he’ll run a marathon. “All of these athletes are terrible now,” he continues, over footage of a father lifting a young toddler to slam dunk a basket, “but they’ll all do great things one day.” Aside from the voiceover interacting with its subjects, this is still a pretty standard message for a sports brand. But things take an unexpected turn when the voiceover’s subjects ambition’s eclipse what he’s comfortable with. While the voiceover keeps trying to wrap things up, athletes keep pushing boundaries.

Directed by The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), the spot features celebrity athletes including Kevin Durant, Neymar Jr.Mo Farah, Aaron GordonNyjah Huston, Serena Williams and Giancarlo Stanton. Williams and Stanton can be seen swatting tennis balls back and forth at ridiculous speeds with their chosen equipment (racket and baseball bat) as the voiceover asks “What kind of training is that!?” as he’s in the middle of losing composure over the various ridiculous stunts athletes are pulling off.

Clearly the idea is to illustrate the “Unlimited” possibilities of both professional and amateur athletes, with the spot taking the idea to comic extremes. In addition to the full-length online spot (above), “Unlimited You” will also run as a 60-second broadcast spot, debuting during NBC’s coverage of the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremonies tonight. 

Credits:
Client: Nike
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke
Interactive Director: Dan Viens
Copywriter: Edward Harrison
Art Director: Susan Land
Global Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Senior Agency Producer: Ross Plummer
Agency Post Producer: Shelley Eisner
Agency Production Assistant: Emily Knight
Digital Producer: Keith Rice
Art Production: Amy Berriochoa, Krystle Mortimore, Jennifer Spillers
Project Management: Christina Kim
Studio Design Manager: Alicia Kuna
Studio Designer: Edgar Morales
Retoucher: Frazer Goodbody
Motion Production, Design: Tori Herbst, Carlos Enciso
Strategic Planning: Andy Lindblade, Nathan Goldberg, Brandon Thornton, Reid Schilperoort
Media, Communications Planning: Danny Sheniak, John Furnari, Brian Goldstein, Jocelyn Reist
Account Team: Chris Willingham, Alyssa Ramsey, Corey Woodson, Anna Boteva, Carly Williamson
Production Company: Prettybird
Director: The Daniels
Executive Producers: Ali Brown, Suzanne Hargrove
Line Producer: Jonathan Wang
Director of Photography: Larkin Seiple
Production Designer: Mark Snelgrove
Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Assistant Editor: Lauren Dellara
Post Producer: Chris Noviello
Executive Post Producer: Helena Lee
Visual Effects, Color: Mill, Los Angeles
2-D Lead Artist: John Leonti
2-D Artists: Brad Scott, Alex Candish, Peter Sidoriak, Rob Winfield, Joseph Zaki, Tommy Smith, Daniel Thurreson, Glyn Tebbutt, Greg VanZyl, Tim Bird, Jake Albers, Sam Evenson, Don Kim, Jake Albers, Adam Lambert
Matte Painting: Andy Wheater, Jie Zhou
Art Support: Dylan Streiff, Gary Marschka
Visual Effects Supervisor: Will Lemmon
Colorists: Greg Reese, Adam Scott
Color Producer: Thatcher Peterson
Music
Artist: FNDTY
Track Title: “Never Die”
Music, Sound, Mix: Lime Studios
Audio Mixers: Rohan Young, Jeff Malen
Audio Assistants: Ben Tomastik, Lisa Mermelstein
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Voiceover Narrator Totally Loses Control of This Awesome Nike Ad for the Olympics

Nike athletes do such great things, even voiceover artists are surprised.

The athletic wear brand’s “Unlimited” campaign, which launched last week with this baby-themed spot, really kicks into high gear today with “Unlimited You”—a long-form spot running as a 2:30 online and as a :60 on NBC’s coverage of tonight’s Opening Ceremonies of the Rio Olympics.

The spot, created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland and directed by The Daniels (aka, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), has fun in particular with the voiceover, by actor Oscar Isaac. After talking up the potential of everyday athletes, in a playfully freewheeling way, for the first 60 seconds, Isaac tries to wrap up the spot—but the athletes have other ideas.

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J Mascis Shows off Converse All Wah in Spot from Critical Mass

Critical Mass launched a new spot for Converse, introducing the Converse All Wah (Converse All Stars with a built in wah-wah pedal) with Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis.

J Mascis musters just about all the enthusiasm he can (not very much) in introducing the sneaker. He laces up a pair, plugs in his guitar and tries out, finding it takes a bit of getting used to. Mascis is a pretty solid choice to introduce the shoe, as a legend whose guitar sound relies heavily on the effect. For those who might not know what wah-wah is, he provides a brief explanation before trying out the All Wah, finding it takes some getting used to and is “definitely its own thing.”

The All Wah is the latest in the “Chuck Hack” project, and a particular cool addition. Critical Mass presented the first prototype of a Chuck Taylor sneaker with built-in wah pedal three years ago. The agency worked with wearable technology brand CuteCircuit to bring the idea to its present-day form, which utilizes wireless Bluetooth technology. Jokes about enthusiasm aside, Mascis saying “I’ll have to write some new songs with this” is a pretty ringing (and awesome) endorsement. 

W+K Portland Celebrates Cavs’ Victory for Nike with ‘Worth the Wait’

Last night, Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers brought home the first professional championship to Cleveland since the 1964 Cleveland Browns shut out the Baltimore Colts in that year’s NFL championship game. To celebrate the event (and Nike athlete James bringing Cleveland the championship he promised upon arrival in 2014), W+K Portland and Nike launched a spot denoting the accomplishment as “Worth the Wait.”

The spot depicts Cavs fans young and old, as well as stars James, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love reacting to the victory. It’s not exactly new territory for a major brand in the wake of an important championship, but Cleveland’s long wait adds emotional weight to the formula.

Reactions of the older, lifelong fans of the team are particularly convincing, illustrating the tagline well, as does a moment when a young boy asks his speechless father “What happened daddy?” before the ad quickly cuts to another stunned fan. The pacing and production of “Worth the Wait” are spot on as well, so while this theme has been rehashed many times before in similar spots, the execution fires on all cylinders. It’s sure to stoke the emotions of exuberant Cavs fans everywhere (and perhaps lead to sales for James’ branded Nike gear, of course).

W+K Launches Nike Football’s Biggest Spot Ever Ahead of Euro 2016

W+K launched a spot for Nike Football (soccer) ahead of the 2016 UEFA European Championship opener tomorrow that is the brand’s largest effort ever. 

The spot, entitled “The Switch,” was directed by Ringan Ledwidge and clocks in at nearly six minutes. In addition to Cristiano Ronaldo, who stars in “The Switch,” the ad also includes professional soccer players Raheem Sterling, Joe Hart, Harry Kane, Chris Smalling, John Stones, Ross Barkley, Ricardo Quaresma, Andre Gomes, Jose Fonte, Cedric Soares, Vieirinha, Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial and Javier Mascherano. Did you get all that?

“The Switch” implied in the title occurs when Ronaldo crashes into a young fan and they switch bodies, Freaky Friday-style. Not the most original premise, granted, but it works. After the collision, Ronaldo, as the boy, works his way back up to becoming a superstar until they eventually meet for the inevitable conclusion.

All told it makes for a pretty entertaining spot, even if the story could have been told in about half the time. The premise allows for the loads of on field footage to have emotional significance beyond the match itself and everything is presented with the stylish flair we’ve come to expect from these types of big budget Nike spots. Avid fans might not even mind the extended runtime, as, while there are plenty of flashes of Nike sportswear, it manages to find a nice balance of promoting the brand without being in your face about it. With the excitement of the upcoming tournament and the sheer star power involved, this spot would be guaranteed a ton of views even if it was a complete creative failure, so it’s especially refreshing that W+K was able to pull off something of this caliber instead.

Nike Unveils a Starbucks Sneaker, Which Will Go Nicely With the Krispy Kreme One

There’s probably a sizable crossover between people who drink Starbucks regularly and people who wear Nikes. But unless they also like ugly shoes, the Nike SB Dunk Low “Starbucks” Premium sneaker is going to be a bust. 

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Krispy Kreme Is Selling Kyrie Irving's New Nike Shoe Boxed Up Like Donuts

Kyrie Irving has an arsenal of secret tricks that make him great at basketball, but his latest reveal may be his most surprising edge yet—his own personal donut. 

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Kevin Durant Goes Nuts for a Street Baller's Dunk in Ad for Nike and Foot Locker

Kevin Durant may be a basketball star, but he knows how to cheer for the little people, too.

In this new co-branded ad for Nike and Foot Locker, the Oklahoma City Thunder player gets so excited while sitting courtside at a street game that he throws his legs—and his namesake KD 8 Nikes—into the air.

It’s just one part of an epic crowd reaction when a player—wearing the same Joker-esque purple and green shoes—lands a reverse dunk. Other highlights from the stands include a super slow-mo “Oh no!” face, a sax solo and even a kid blasting off with a jetpack (which doesn’t really seem like the safest idea given the crowd below, but anyways).

In fact, the only spectator who doesn’t lose his mind is Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves—the NBA’s 2015 slam dunk champion—who barely bothers to look up from studying a copy of a book titled The Funk on Dunk (which sadly doesn’t appear to be a real title … or at least, not one that’s currently in print).

Though to be totally honest, the move itself doesn’t come close to Blake Griffin’s latest for Jordan—or even Marvin the Martian’s.

CREDITS
Clients: Nike & Foot Locker

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Chris Groom, Stuart Brown
Copywriter: Sheena Brady
Art Director: Mike Warzin
Producer: Kevin Diller
Interactive Strategy: Reid Schilperoort
Strategic Planning: Brandon Thornton
Media/Comms Planning: Charles Lee, John Furnari
Account Team: Jordan Muse, Katie Gurgainus, Chase Haviland, Luke Purdy
Business Affaires: Alicia Willett
Project Management: Emily Norman
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Mark Fizloff
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: MJZ
Director: Steve Ayson
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Line Producer: Mark Hall
Director of Photography: Philippe Le Sourd

Editorial Company: Exile Editorial
Editor: Kirk Baxter
Post Producer: Toby Louie
Post Executive Producer: CL Weaver

VFX Company: Saint
Flame Artist: Robert Trent
VFX Producer: Helen Park

—Digital/Interactive
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Director: Chris Groom, Stuart Brown
Copywriter: Sheena Brady
Art Director: Mike Warzin
Producer: Kevin Diller
Interactive Strategy: Reid Schilperoort
Strategic Planning: Brandon Thornton
Media/Comms Planning: Charles Lee, John Furnari
Account Team: Jordan Muse, Katie Gurgainus, Chase Haviland, Luke Purdy
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Mark Fitzloff
Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Digital Designer: Justin Morris
Exec Interactive Producer: Ben Oh
Content Producer : Keith Rice
Art Buying: Amy Berriochoa

CHRLX Starts ‘Engine’ for Nike Zoom Elite 8

Nike Celebrates the 'Real Girls of Moscow' With Empowering Ads, Murals and GIFs

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

Must Be Something Gets Really Fast for Nike

Portland, Oregon full service agency Must Be Something launched a celebrity-filled 60-second spot for Nike touting the brand’s Air Zoom Elite 8, entitled “Find Your Fast.”

In a marriage of form and function, the ad, directed by Chappelle Show co-creator Neal Brennan, flies by at a frenetic pace, cutting from one celebrity athlete to the next in its promotion of the fast running shoe. Among the thirteen athletes in the ad are Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Wayne Rooney, Rafael Nadal, Richard Sherman, Odell Beckam Jr. and Allyson Felix. In other words, the spot features as many celebrity athletes as it can muster, as quickly as it can. If that’s still not fast enough for you, the ad sandwiches “The World’s Fastest Ad” (with David Blaine and Kobe Bryant) in the middle of the action, complete with a cameo by the epitome of quickness: Roadrunner. As part of the campaign, Nike is calling on viewers to log their fastest-ever mile via the Nike+ community by August 30th.

Nike Makes One of the Fastest Ads Ever to Sell the Zoom Air Sneaker

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)

Thousands Creative Launches ‘No Maybes’ for Nike Soccer

With the U.S. Women’s National Team playing their first game in the Women’s World Cup today, Thousands Creative kicked off a new campaign for Nike Soccer, entitled “No Maybes.”

The 60-second spot “American Woman” launches the campaign with a look at the team training in preparation for the tournament. Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux, Carli Lloyd, Christen Press and Megan Rapinoe all appear decked out in Nike Hypervenom IIs in the ad, which is set to a certain song by The Guess Who. It illustrates the “No Maybes” mentality by showing the the team going through grueling hours of training before they ever step on the pitch.

“You have to have a team mentality with the competitiveness of the individual,” explained U.S. Women’s National Team captain, Abby Wambach, who also recently appeared in an ad for Cree. “You want to make sure that everyone around you has the same mentality and then enmesh those individualities. We are masters of controlling ourselves and bringing out the best in each other.”