Winter is here, people. And unless you're a baseball player passed out somewhere in the Caribbean sun, you're going to have to deal with it.
Or rather, enjoy it.
Wieden + Kennedy's new Nike campaign is all about how painful it can be for athletes dealing with the harshness of winter weather—unless you happen to be wearing the brand's Hyperwarm baselayer of workout apparel, in which case you're impervious and awesome.
Chris O'Dowd amusingly stars as a weatherman of sorts, who hyperbolically describes the effects of the cold on the human body. It's not pretty. And yet his dire warnings are at completely at odds with what's on the screen, as we see cold-weather athletes going about their business—with their brains and extremities in full working order.
O'Dowd is a likable guy and an unexpected choice, and the whole spot has some of the wry, freewheeling atmosphere of the Bradley Cooper-voiced "Possibilities" spot from last year—though it's more cartoony with the faux-weather-show setup.
The film is the first in a multi-part series, Nike says, with this first installment featuring football stars Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson, soccer players Clint Dempsey and Brad Evans, distance runner Mary Cain, figure skater Gracie Gold and snowboarder Johnnie Paxson.
Among those to be featured later in the campaign are hockey's Dion Phaneuf and baseball's Yasiel Puig—who must be playing in a winter league in Iceland.
CREDITS
Client: Nike
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.