Nike has assembled the same creative partners behind the famous 2012 "Jogger" spot—ad agency Wieden + Kennedy and Park Pictures director Lance Acord—for its latest running ad, which makes a very similar point: that anyone can be a runner if they just start running.
Acord even uses a similar technique—a slow backward tracking shot—in the new ad, titled "Last," which is set on a marathon course where the final stragglers are just jogging through, trampling on a bed of crushed paper water cups and dodging the pedestrians who've already begun to reclaim the road.
"Last" is a very different spot than "Jogger," though—both bigger and smaller in scope. Bigger because it's not just about running but about marathon running. ("You are not a runner," says the female voiceover. "You are especially not a marathon runner. But at the end of this, you will be.") Smaller because "Jogger," starring a very overweight kid, was clearly and starkly provocative, while "Last" is much more lighthearted.
The soundtrack here is "Every Little Bit Hurts" by Aretha Franklin from 1964. The spot points to nike.com/running and promotes the Nike+ Run Club, which democratizes running by serving runners of all ability levels.
CREDITS
Client: Nike
Spot: "Last"
Format: :60/:30
Launch Date: Oct. 11, 2015, North America TV
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O'Rourke
Interactive Director: Dan Viens
Interactive Producer: Evelyn Loomis
Global Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Writer: Heather Ryder, Darcie Burrell
Art Director: Patty Orlando
Producer: Shelley Eisner
Associate Producer: Julie Gursha
Strategic Planning: Henry Lambert
Business Affairs: Anna Beth Nagel
Account Team: Alyssa Ramsey, Marisa Weber, Molly Rugg
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Joe Staples
Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Lance Acord
Executive Producer: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Line Producer: Caroline Kousidonis
Director of Photography: Lance Acord
Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Post Producer: Angela Dorian
Post Executive Producer: Angela Dorian
VFX Company: A52
VFX Supervisor: Pat Murphy
Flame Artist: Pat Murphy
VFX Producer: Michael Steinmann
Titles/Graphics: Just Do It+ Nike title cards – Artwork from Patty Orlando
Music+Sound Company: Walker Music/Barking Owl
Composer: Edited track
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Song: "Every Little Bit Hurts" – Aretha Franklin Album "Running out of Fools" 1964
Producer: Sara Matarazzo/Abbey Hickman, Walker / Kelly Bayett, Barking Owl
Mix Company: Eleven Sound
Mixer: Jeff Payne
Producer: Dawn Redmann
