nike + oscar pistorius: bad listener.

To me, Oscar Pistorius is both a fascinating human story and a signal of things to come. Born without bones from the knees down, he’s overcome adversities that most of us can’t even fathom. Now he’s a fast enough runner that he’s on the brink of becoming the first Paralympic athlete to compete in the Olympics themselves. However, the opposition he faces is greater than just his lack of legs…

Check out my last post about Pistorius for the complete story on the controversy surrounding his journey. In the end, after wrangling with various international athletic federations and flying around the world for scientific tests, Pistorius was only finally allowed to try and make the South African Olympic team mere weeks before the preliminaries and he fell seconds short of making the team. His sights are now set on London 2012. I’ll say it right here, right now: in 2012, Oscar Pistorius will become the first “differently abled” athlete to compete in the Olympic Games and make history before all of our eyes.

For now, Pistorius remains an inspiration; a shining beacon of just what the human body and mind is capable of in a competitive world designed to keep people inside their neat little boxes. Pistorius has appeared in Nike South Africa ads before, but in this new spot, “Bad Listener”, they pay a subtle tribute to the strength of his will. There’s a slight irony here, with the spot created to coincide with the opening of an Olympic games that Pistorius won’t be attending (though he will be competing in the Paralympic Games, where he’s sure to continue demolishing the competition as he has been for years. He’s the Michael Phelps of Paralympic Track).

The ad isn’t anything particularly groundbreaking, but with subject matter like this you don’t really need it to be. Shot with his actual trophies and at the actual high school he attended in Pretoria, Nike and W+K were smart enough to know all they needed to do was tell the story simply and with truth, because the emotion inside it is so great and universal that it’s doesn’t need to be augmented by any advertiser or agency.

It’s almost so quick and easy as to brush past you. But I dare you to calm your mind, sit for a moment, watch this, and actually imagine what it would be like to be him. To have everyone tell you that your dreams are impossible. And then to prove them all wrong. And to have to do it every single day.

(Agency: Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam. Director: Brent Harris. Production: Rabbit at Bonkers.)

Via Creativity Online

beijing 2008: adidas’ countdown + coca cola’s bird’s nest stadium.

I’ve been obsessed with the marketing buzz building towards Beijing 2008 for quite a while now, particularly with the stunning work from one of my fave brands, Adidas, and their “In 2008 Impossible Is Nothing” campaign.

Now the games are finally here. This morning I got up at 7am to watch the Opening Ceremonies live. I’m not an early riser by any means, but an Olympics opening is one of the greatest spectacles of our time. I don’t want to give anything away for those who will be watching tonight, but Beijing turned out the most pomped out, kick ass, jaw dropping, absolutely over-whelming display of light, precision, synchronization, and sheer human effort. It’s one of the very few things, if not the only thing, that the world collectively agrees to turn its attention to in a generally positive light. And for that it should be cherished.

This last week some of the big guns have really amped up their marketing and turned out some proper Olympic-style work. Here we’ve got two new spots that launched this week in the final build up to the games.

First up is Coca Cola’s cutesie pie “Bird’s Nest Stadium”. So much of Olympics advertising is lazy and relies on the natural drama of sport without taking a fresh or humanistic approach. Show a bunch of people diving, twirling, and running, que the cheering crowds, slap your logo on the end, et voila. This spot does much more but simultaneously doesn’t try and veer too much from what this is all about. Without hitting us over the head, it’s a nice blend of that human-family multicultural angle that the Olympics just beg for and also highlights, in an undeniably adorable ending, the excitement and anticipation most of us feel for the world’s biggest sporting event. It’s pure feel good and a total bull’s eye:

(Agency: Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam. Directors: Eric Lerner + Thomas Hilland. Production: Partizan.)

With “Countdown”, Adidas continues it’s more Chinese-nationalist approach it’s taken throughout its entire “In 2008 Impossible Is Nothing” campaign for the games. While the Coca Cola spot (and, indeed, most Olympic spots in general) take the POV of being a non-athlete in another country, watching and supporting the games from afar, the Adidas spots went for something different. They focussed on specific Chinese athletes (such as Hu Jia and Zheng Zhi) and didn’t shy away from the tremendous pressure they feel to honour their country. In this final spot, it broadens that anticipation from the individual athletes to that of the entire Chinese population. A particularly interesting angle to take for these games, for while we can all identify with a sense of national pride, China’s not an open book. The catalyst for what might be encouraging China’s national identity isn’t freely shared with the rest of us.

Still, the feeling it evokes is honest and the visual idea of citizens physically imitating their Olympic heroes, moved almost beyond thought and action into just a pure manifestion of national will (which, let’s be honest, isn’t a far cry from China any ol’ time), is wonderfully effective.

(Agency: TBWA China. Director: NEO. Production: Stink, London.)

Via Motionographer + Creativity Online

vancouver 2010: mascotarded.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic people just “unveiled” the mascots for the next winter games. Ok, so let’s talk Olympics: Citius, Altius, Foritus and all that. “Imagine there’s no countries…it’s easy if you try”. The triumph of the human spirit embodied by the noble struggle that is… the luge. Anyway, the Olympics are cool and we all get that. I’ll be up at 4:00am to watch the Ladies Long Program with the best of ‘em. Plus, let’s face it – the Olympics are the biggest sport event in the history of the universe with even bigger brand dollars attached. The games come and the whole world watches. With that in mind, will somebody please, please… please tell me why Olympic mascots always look so stupid?

I was hoping that Vancouver wouldn’t cave in to convention and come up with some kind of plush killer whale holding a totem pole. Now I’m wishing they had. Instead, they went for a Japanimation/Haida mashup. It’s a little like Astroboy’s spirit animal does the Super G. We have a trio of Pokémon left-overs made up not just of the stereotypical animals you’d expect, but from different body parts of the stereotypical animals you’d expect: