Johnnie Walker helps paralyzed athlete walk
Well, not really. But toward the end of this 90-second BBH clip, Marc Herremans—a Belgian triathlete paralyzed from the chest down since a 2002 bike-training accident—rises from his wheelchair and takes several steps before turning to face the reality of himself, still unable to walk but determined to move forward with his ambitions. "When your reality changes, your dreams don't have to," Herremans says in the voiceover. Using a guy who "Keeps walking" even when he can't is a provocative choice—reminiscent of the old Super Bowl ad for Nuveen Investments that showed Christopher Reeve rising and walking again. There was a significant outcry against the Nuveen spot, but Reeve stuck by it. He told Adweek in 2000: "It was not an irresponsible commercial. Time magazine had an editorial condemning me for raising false hope. It was written by a journalist who had been in a wheelchair for 22 years—and I can understand his cynicism. After that much time in a wheelchair, how can one dare to hope?"
- Mike Darnell Steps Down as Fox Reality Capo
- Embattled P&G CEO Out, Replaced by Predecessor
- The Guardian to Consolidate Web Properties Under One Domain
- JCPenney One of 10 Brands Predicted to Die in Next Year
- Are You Young and Male? Discovery Says This TestTube's for You
- NSA Media Creates Alliance With Wishabi
- Dwell Media Hires New Head of Digital From Yahoo
- FTC May Not Be Done With Google Yet
- Rapture-Palooza Star Anna Kendrick Is Addicted to Reddit
- JCPenney One of 10 Brands Predicted to Die in Next Year
- Microsoft Humiliates Siri in Biting Parody of Apple's iPad Ads
- Atlanta's Most Infamous Stripper Pimps Charity Advertising Contest
- Jell-O Hijacks Twitter's Profane #FML Hashtag, Changes It to Mean 'Fun My Life'
- Ad of the Day: Dodge
- Time.com Is on a Hiring Spree
- The Most Stunning Ad Ever Made for a Used Car With 128,000 Miles That's Been Puked In Twice
AdFreak is your daily blog of the best and worst of creativity in advertising, media, marketing and design. Follow us as we celebrate (and skewer) the latest, greatest, quirkiest and freakiest commercials, promos, trailers, posters, billboards, logos and package designs around. Edited by Adweek's Tim Nudd. Updated every weekday, with a weekly recap on Saturdays.


Email
Print







