Adidas Knocks Under Armour Again With This Inspirational 'One in a Billion' Ad for China

Some in the Western world retain unfortunate stereotypes about China as a society that places little value on individuality, valuing loyalty to the state above all other things. Advertisers, in turn, have often approached the world's second largest economy with caution. For example, a 2008 Olympic-themed effort from Adidas illustrated Chinese consumers' sense of national pride in their team as the German sports apparel brand aimed to shore up a larger share of what remains a rapidly growing market. Yet young Chinese athletes are most definitely interested in expressing their own personalities, and Adidas' latest attempt to reach them appeals directly to that desire. It also pushes back against the Cold War-era man-or-machine narrative while simultaneously mocking one of the brand's chief rivals in the region. Check out the new spot here: Under Armour fans will notice that the first scene in "One in a Billion" directly references UA's "Rule Yourself." In that Droga5 campaign from 2015, thousands of clones of Tom Brady, Misty Copeland, Steph Curry and others demonstrated the hard and often mindless work that goes into being a world-class athlete—doing the same thing over and over again in the endless pursuit of perfection. (This isn't the first time Adidas has taken a shot at UA's repetitive-training mind-set.) This first Chinese campaign from Adidas' new global lead creative agency, 72andSunny, goes a bit further in reminding viewers that every form of athleticism can double as an expression of one's individual style. These would-be stars aren't limited by sport, gender or even nationality. (Note the hard-to-miss cameo here by one David Beckham.) There's still plenty of homeland pride to be found in a spot that also features appearances by Olympic volleyball player Hui Ruo Qui and swimmer Ning Ze Tao. But the big message here is that Adidas can help young competitors be inviduals, too. So, why target Under Armour? That company's recently announced plans to capture a bigger portion of the Chinese market, currently dominated by Nike (and Adidas), might just have something to do with it. CREDITS Client: Adidas VP, Global Brand Communications: Ryan Morlan Senior Director, Global Brand Communications and Media: Lia Stierwalt Director, Global Brand Communications: Jenny Chen Senior Manager, Creative Production & Shoot: Eleanor Fitzgerald VP, Brand Director Sports Performance - adidas China: Marc Leroux VP, Brand Activation - adidas China: Philip Ho Senior Director, Brand Communications - adidas China: Josephine Tsai Director Brand Communications - adidas China: Lorna Luo Manager Brand Communication Training - adidas China: Amy Fan Featured in the Campaign China National Volleyball Team Player: Hui Ruo Qui China Olympic Swimmer: Ning Ze Tao Former European Football Player: David Beckham Agency: 72andSunny Los Angeles and 72andSunny New York Chief Creative Officer, Co-Founder: Glenn Cole Group Creative Director: Frank Hahn Creative Director: Wei Wei Dong Creative Director: Matthew Carey Creative Technologist: Tim Grover Writer: Ben Wiley Designer: Brandon Mai Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap Executive Producer: Kerli Teo Producer: Jenny Jones Group Brand Director: James Stephens Brand Director: Ryan Warner Brand Manager: Brian Kim Brand Coordinator: Brittany Allen Group Strategy Director: Sudeep Gohil Strategy Director: Ginger Xiang Senior Strategist: Marc Pardy Partnerships & Legal Director: Christina Rust Partnerships & Legal Manager: Kelly Ventrelli Junior Partnerships & Legal Manager: Noah Winter Production: Prettybird Director: Max Malkin Co-Founder / Executive Producer: Kerstin Emhoff Vice President / Executive Producer: Ali Brown Director of Production: Tracy Hauser Producer: Matt Wersinger Editorial: Lost Planet NY Editor: Bruce Herrman Executive Producer: Krystn Wagenberg Producer: Paolo Solarte Sound Design: Barking Owl Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi Executive Producer/ CD: Kelly Bayett Producer: Ashley Benton Finishing/VFX: The Mill NY Executive Producer: Melanie Wickham Senior Producer: Eliana Carranza-Pitcher Production Coordinator: Ashley Goodwin Shoot Supervisor: Eliza Randall 2D Lead Artist: Ilia Mokhtareizadeh 2D Artists: Vi Nguyen, Andre Vidal, Mikey Smith, Kyle Zemborain Motion Graphics: Laura Nash, Chris Mennuto Color: The Mill NY Colorist: Mikey Rossiter Color Assist: Nate Seymour and Elias Nousiopoulos Executive Producer: Dee Allen Color Producer: Natalie Westerfield Color Coordinator: Evan Bauer Mix Heard City Audio Mixer - Eric Warzecha Audio Producer - Andi Lewis Audio EP - Sasha Awn Music Apparat "Ash/Black Veil" Music Supervision: Daniel Cross

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Adidas Knocks Under Armour Again With This Inspirational 'One in a Billion' Ad for China

And David Beckham pops in to say hi

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