Inside Those Tennis Ads

On the eve of the Wimbledon mens final I thought I would share with you some tennis ads that are considered to be some of the "most viral" spots on the net.

In a 2008 Nike tennis ad campaign, Rhys Darby from Flight of the Conchords teaches Roger Federer about the secrets of playing a magical air guitar. It turns out Federer was better then expected.

The second Nike spot with Federer and Rhys Darby, this one shows an outstanding display of tennis and house crashing.

As you all know, Nike's ad agency is Wieden + Kennedy.

Best,
-Abdallah

Nike: XI Men

The ad above is courtesy of Kiss My Black Ads. A Nike ad to celebrate AC Millan's Series A win. The ad brings together any adolescent males' two favorite past times, sports and comics.

I've asked the curator of KMBA, Craig Brimm if it is possible to get an actual print of this ad. Why? Cause this is what I call true art, people!

The Credits

Advertising Agency: Giuliano Garonzi Studio, Milan, Italy
Art Director: Giuliano Garonzi
Illustrator: Mauro Marchesi
Copywriter: Rino Anzi

Best,

-A.B.

A Consolation Ad From Nike

As most of you probably already know, Oregon lost the title game to Auburn on Monday, January 10, 2011 by a score of 22-19. Nike has a special place in its heart for the ducks because co-founder Phil Knight is an alumnus of the school. Knight also donated a $100 million to Oregon athletics along with tons of uniform combinations for the team to wear on the field. To love your school is something I understand completely but why does a big client like Nike approve an ad like the one shown above? When I read the copy I saw it as praise for the losing team.

As Americans, do we ever remember those who finished second? No, we’re a country that likes winners. Why didn’t Wieden + Kennedy feature the winning helmet? Oh yeah, Auburn isn’t sponsored by Nike, Auburn belongs to the Under Armour camp.

The question is, would W+K have ran this ad if Oregon wasn’t Nike’s pet school? Not if they wanted to stay profitable and keep their client happy. Also, I can’t believe that there is actually a division one school that Nike doesn’t sponsor. I absolutely loved everything about the uniform except for the neon green socks. The socks made the Oregon players look like they threw up on their shoes before the game started.

The helmet looks awesome but I would have changed the headline somehow. Also, I just can’t get over the idea that the ad shown above is a consolation ad, an ad praising the loser for how hard they tried. This is why, I think of the ad above as the Special Olympics ad, because everyone’s a winner! What do you guys think?

As a side not, I do appreciate what the Special Olympics tries to accomplish, but I don’t appreciate the fact that all disabled sports have been overshadowed by this event which is meant for mentally disabled athletes only and not “ALL” athletes with a disability.

Best,
-A.B.

Michael Jordan on LeBron James

A new video making the rounds on YouTube is an advertising mashup. The mashup takes segments from two separate commercials and patches them together to create a clear message. The message: The king could still learn a thing or two from “His Airness.” Read the full Ad Age article.

Here is the Mashup ad video.



Here is the original commercial created by W+K.



They aren’t really sure who created the mashup.

Best,
-A.B.

He is Certainly NOT a Failure

You certainly can’t call this man a failure with all the things he has accomplished on the basketball court. The commercial above is an awesome spot done by Wieden + Kennedy. Michael Jordan is without a doubt the best basketball player that has ever played the game in my opinion.

Enjoy,
-A.B.

LeBron, What Should I Do

This commercial just aired during Inside The NBA featuring the new king of Miami, LeBron James. Inside The NBA aired right after the L.A. Lakers two-point win to start the 2010-2011 season.

The spot several clips of LeBron in various situations like a press conference, poet, on a basketball court, in a construction site, all asking the question “What should I do? In the spot he also provides possible answers in question form like “Should I admit that I made mistakes?” Should I really believe I ruined my legacy? Should I have my tattoo removed? If you follow basketball like I do you would know that this commercial mocks the publics reaction to “The Decision.”

The one thing that was really interesting to me about this spot is that it was unusually long for a game on opening night of the season. I’d fully expect a longer commercial if it were the NBA Finals series or the playoffs even but opening night? “The Decision” may have also had an influence on the length of the spot.

And of course, we all know and love who the agency for this Nike Basketball spot is, Wieden + Kennedy.

Best,
-A.B.

Puppets Got Jokes

Here is yet another puppet commercial except this time it is a parody off of another commercial that Kobe did for Nike. In the spot above Kobe jumps over a car, in the one below the Kobe-LeBron puppets make fun of it. Yeah even puppets got jokes.


Best,
A.B.

Puppet Follow-up

Here are the latest two spots for Nike involving puppets that resemble the two NBA stars. This is simply a follow up to the post I wrote earlier Titled “LeBron, Kobe "Just Do It" Puppet Style” I posted these simply for your enjoyment.



Best,
A.B.

LeBron, Kobe "Just Do It" Puppet Style

A friend of mine from work showed me the new Nike commercial above. According to a few other blogs these new puppet commercials are part of a new Nike ad campaign being rolled out during the playoffs. They create puppets that resemble the two top players in the NBA. LeBron puppet is so excited about the upcoming playoffs and he cannot hide it while Kobe is the more stoic of the two.

The spot is extremely funny and memorable. The audience will certainly be able to recall the brand being promoted, Nike basketball. I was laughing so hard right in the middle of my office when I first saw this spot, people must have thought I was going crazy. My favorite part is when the LeBron character was getting overly excited about beef and broccoli.

You simply have to watch it to know what I’m talking about. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I believe the ad agency for this campaign is Wieden+Kennedy, Nike’s long time lead agency but I can't be certain. I will try to find out and update this post. Now I am sure that it is W+K that created the ad via an angry reader that stumbled onto my blog.

Best,
A.B.

NBA Goes Back to College

To get into the swing of March Madness Adidas came up with something pretty cool in my opinion. It's taking four of its NBA endorsers back to college in a series of ads. What is important to note is that the four NBA stars being used in the commercials jumped from high school right into the NBA.

Also, being a huge Kansas fan I have to show this one:




Anyhow, Dwight Howard will be at Kansas, Tracy McGrady at Louisville, Josh Smith will be headed to Pitt and Kevin Garnett will be here in not-so-sunny L.A at UCLA. There are some other players I would have liked to have seen on these ads like Kobe and LeBron but they are Nike People.

I've been trying for the past couple of days to find out who the ad agency behind the ads is but I haven't had much luck.

You can see the rest of the spots Below:







Oh and of course I'll be buying brand new shoes just for the tourney. Yeah....

Best,
A.B.

Here Comes: Windvertising

I was alerted to this article on the Huffington Post by my boss at work. The article discusses a new form of advertising playfully dubbed Windvertising by the post. It got its name because this new, creative form of advertising employs WePOWER's PacWind turbines. When ads are placed on top of the turbines and they spin, it creates the illusion of animation.

The Huff Post does say that the image is a bit misleading when you first look at it. I thought the logos are simply placed on top of the blades. Obviously, from the image above some logos look better then others. In my opinion the Nike logo looks better then that of the golden arches.

It is certainly a creative idea. It will be interesting to see if this new platform is accepted by advertisers. This hopes to promote the idea of "Green Power"

PS: The image was also taken from the Huffington Post.

Best,
A.B.