Kids, try this at home! Run a marathon! Punch a professional MMA fighter! Humiliate the local street-basketball star! Ride an electric bull in the back of a moving pickup truck! Tell them Nike told you to do so!
For the 25th anniversary of its "Just do it" slogan (memo: you're old), the sportswear company and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy are trying something new, or rather, old: "Just do it" for very broad values of "it." This is a good spot, with the dueling narrators, seamless transitions and some impressive sets—rarely has a 90-second commercial looked so freakishly expensive.
The dance party, the marathon, the blacktop, the table-tennis room and the football game all have a surprisingly large number of extras involved, and then there's the use of actual sports stars to put the cherry on the whole thing. It's a massive undertaking by W+K, and director Nicolai Fuglsig manages to keep the whole thing fluid not merely by having the lead actors dress the same way from fantasy to fantasy, but by editing the shots together so that they switch over in the middle of a pan. It's impressive.
Bradley Cooper is adequately wry with his voiceover. And good choice of music, too: "Future Starts Slow" off Blood Pressures by The Kills.
Overall, it's a good, anthemic lead spot for the campaign, with branding that drives the viewer back to the slogan without slapping him or her in the face with it for a minute and a half. And it successfully suggests you can move beyond what you thought were your physical limits, even if you have but a fraction of the talent of a Piqué, Williams or James. (Also, look for the cameo by Chris Pine.) Moving beyond the TV spot, viewers can also explore their own "Possibilities" through activations including Nike+ Running and NikeFuel challenges.
One quibble: The rhino-riding shot is supposed to be cool, but it just makes me sad.
CREDITS
Client: Nike
Spot: "Possibilities"
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke
Agency Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Copywriter: Edward Harrison
Art Director: Sezay Altinok
Agency Producer: Anna Smith
Agency Associate Producer: Kirsten Acheson
Account Supervisor: Vanessa Miller
Account Director: Karrelle Dixon
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples, Susan Hoffman
Business Affairs Manager: Amber Lavender
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Producer: Suza Horvat
Director of Photography: Greig Fraser
First Assistant Directorts: Cliff Lanning, John Lowe, Todd Thompson
Production Designers: Jeremy Hindle, Peter Andrus
Wardrobe Stylists: Keith Wager, Charlotte Chadwick
Location Manager: Dave Doumeng
Production Supervisor: Evan Wilson
Sports Coordinators: Mike Fisher, Darren Tyson White
Spain Production Company: Widescope Productions
Service Executive Producer: Iñaki Villarias
Service Line Producer: Karim El Masri
Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Angus Wall
Post Producer: Toby Louie
Post Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver
Assistant Editor: Austyn Daines
Visual Effects Company: A52
Visual Effects Executive Producers: Megan Meloth, Jennifer Sofio Hall
Visual Effects Producer: Scott Boyajan
Visual Effects Supervisor: Andy McKenna
Computer Graphics Supervisor: Kirk Shintani
Massive Pipeline Technical Director: Chris Janney
Color, Lighting Lead: Ian Ruhfass
Flame Artists: Andy Barrios, Hugh Seville, Paul Heagney, Steve Wolff, Cameron Coombs, David Parker
Computer Graphics Artists: Adam Carter, Caleb Hecht, Tom Connors, Tim Donlevy, Vivian Su, Joe Chiechi, Wendy Pham, Cody Woodard, Joe Panliagua, Michael Lori, Adam Newman, Andrew Romatz, Shelby Strong
Music: "Future Starts Slow" by The Kills
Sound Design: Barking Owl
Mix Company: Lime Studios
Mixers: Rohan Young, Loren Silber
Producer: Jessica Locke
Voiceover: Bradley Cooper