Inside Blake Griffin and Chris Paul's Hilariously Odd Comedy Sketches for Jordan Brand

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



Chris Paul’s Jordan Sneakers Now Available in Twin Brother Cliff’s Favorite Design: Argyle

A year ago, State Farm released a wonderful commercial from agency Translation suggesting NBA star Chris Paul had a twin brother, Cliff, who happened to be a State Farm agent—because he was "born to assist." In April, agency and client released an amusing follow-up spot. And now, they're cleverly extending the campaign all the way into product design through a deal with Nike's Jordan Brand.

Yes, the Los Angeles Clippers star's Jordan CP3.VII sneaker is now available in an argyle design—inspired by Cliff, who is always seen in an argyle sweater in the State Farm spots. (The CP3.VII sneaker is also the first Jordan brand shoe with iD customization on the Nike website.) A new State Farm spot, posted below, shows Chris and Cliff brainstorming ideas to bring their fans together—and landing on the custom shoe idea. Paul, as always, is doubly great in the new ad playing both himself and his nerdy alter ego, even if the plot line of the new :30 isn't as magical as the two previous :60s.

"I am always amazed at how people have connected to Chris and Cliff," Paul said in a statement to AdFreak. "I enter an arena and people call out 'Where's your brother?' Working with State Farm and Jordan on the argyle customization of my new shoe adds another level of creativity to marketing both the shoe and State Farm."

State Farm marketing chief Tim Van Hoof said the argyle iD customizations are "an exciting and cool way to connect with NBA fans and increase our relevance within the NBA culture." And Translation creative director Emily Sander said the agency wanted to "dig deeper and give fans a culturally relevant way to own a piece of the story. … We found the perfect way to organically continue infusing State Farm into sports culture, while adding more dimension to the character and his story."

See the previous spots below:


    

Foot Locker Proves Blake Griffin Really Is an Endorsement Machine

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


    

Blake Griffin Might Be a Product-Endorsing Robot

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.

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Chris Paul Finally Sits Down with Long Lost Brother, Cliff Paul

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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