After taking a different direction with their last SportsCenter spot, W+K New York and ESPN have gone back to what has made the “This Is SportsCenter” series so popular, employing humorous situations in the network’s Bristol HQ.
The spot, “Double Double,” stars Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love as the guy responsible for pushing the coffee cart that keeps the SportsCenter crew caffeinated (UCLA mascot Joe Bruin can also be seen in the spot). This is an important job, because, as anchor Scott Van Pelt says, the SportsCenter crew relies “pretty heavily on the coffee cart” to keep going throughout the day. Love’s specialty is making “the best double-double,” which is two double espressos. Host Stan Verrett swears by Kevin’s double-doubles. In fact, he’s a little too fond of them. He requests another double-double from Love while he still has his two espressos in-hand, but Kevin says “I think maybe you should slow down.” Verrett continues to hound Love for more espresso as the spot goes on, with Kevin responsibly telling him he should just get through his show. At some point Love must have given in, and the results on Stan Verrett’s show are pretty funny, as well as startling to co-host Neil Everett.
It’s a return to form for W+K, who play to their strengths with “Double Double.” The strategy seen here has worked for the “This Is Sportscenter” series in the past, and “Double Double” is the best SportsCenter spot in recent memory, with a good setup and comedic payoff thanks to Love and Verrett’s delivery. Let’s hope agency and brand continue sticking with what works in the future. Credits after the jump.CLIENT: ESPN
PROJECT NAME: ESPN ‘This is SportsCenter’ Campaign
SYNOPSIS OF SPOT: Kevin Love makes the best double espressos.
FORMAT BROADCAST: HD
CLIENT CONTACT: Jeff Gonyo, Michael Kopech, AJ Mazza, Patrick Sofen
LAUNCH DATE: 10/21/13
W+K NEW YORK
Creative Directors: Brandon Henderson / Stuart Jennings
Copywriter: Charles Hodges
Art Director: Gary Van Dzura
Executive Producer: Temma Shoaf
Account Team: Brandon Pracht / Casey Bernard
Executive Creative Directors: Ian Reichenthal / Scott Vitrone
Head of Content Production: Lora Schulson
PRODUCTION
Production Company: O Positive
Director: David Shane
Executive Producers: Ralph Laucella / Marc Grill
Line Producer: Ken Licata
Director of Photography: Dave Morabito
EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: Cosmo Street
Editor: Tom Scherma
Post Producer: Heather Richardson
Post Executive Producer: Maura Woodward
VFX
VFX Company: Switch
Flame Artist: Jon Magel
VFX Producer: Diana Dayrit
MIX
Mix Company: Heard City
Mixer: Philip Loeb
Executive Producer: Gloria Pitagorsky