Monday 22 November 2010

Nike for LeBron: Rise

This has undertones of that Earl Woods Nike commercial...they really do a fantastic job of taking hype and giving us a counterpoint as something to think about

In this new LeBron James ad “Rise”. Nike nods to Miami Vice; playing up his actions vs the expectations people may have of him.



Given the media circus of an ESPN special I personally find it remarkable that King James can play the victim in this skit but this is sure to keep Nike real and sell more hi tops in the process. 5 stars.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Surely the fact that Nike have now had to make this type of commercial for their two biggest properties in LeBron and Tiger shows how risky this approach has become? These people are human beings as well as sporting icons and advertising based on them acknowledging their faults doesn't want to make me wear their sneakers.

Steve Simpson said...

Hi and thanks for your comment, thought provoking.

Irrespective of the risk associated with these athletes being human I would say that kids want to jump like Lebron and drive like Tiger. The fact that they are surrounded with this drama fuels the Nike brand perception perfectly...I suppose its f**k what they have done as long as they Just Do It.

ankush rao said...

dont you think that the ad is superlengthy, thogh it is very impressive and motivative ad, but since todays generation dosent preffer to have a look on such a lenghy ads.....

Unknown said...

Interesting ad. I expect there should be a follow up, if not, then there should be!

It's not the mistakes or being human, sure that helps relate our 'stars' to the average Joe, but the exception comes in exceeding and overcoming failures.

Because failures are events, not people.

ChrisBryant said...

The length of the advert doesn’t matter too much, as it’s an ad that people want to watch, and will go out of their way to watch. Like the Tiger Woods ad, most of its value will come from its viral nature, with millions of hits on YouTube and thousands of discussions just like this one. The length of the ad helps it become iconic and integrate it into pop culture. It was instantly mimicked in TV shows such as South Park, and has numerous parodies (Brett Favre example - http://bit.ly/fRPIMZ). With these ads, Nike aren’t just selling shoes, but creating little pieces of pop culture history.