LOS ANGELES Independent Wieden + Kennedy launches an ambitious multi-spot campaign for Nike during tonight’s Olympics opening ceremony.
“We Have Softball” employs Donna Fargo’s ’70s country hit “Happiest Girl in the Whole USA” and a montage of girls on a sandlot and adult Olympic athletes playing softball. A defiant title card reads: “We have softball…You can have everything else,” an allusion to the sport being dropped from the next Olympics.
In “A Dream Deferred,” actor Danny Glover recites the stirring Langston Hughes poem and runner Sanya Richards is shown with her family, fans and coach Clyde Hart. The spot ends with Richards, who battled back from a rare disease to compete in the games this year, tearing down the track as Glover speaks the poem’s final “explosive” line.
“A New Team” features a performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Marvin Gaye from the NBA Playoffs in 1983. His passionate effort provides the soundtrack for footage of current U.S. team members and nostalgic shots of stars such as Michael Jordan in their Olympics “Dream Team” years. The spot ends with players arms raised in unity.
Versions of the spots range from 30-seconds to 2 minutes-plus.
Shannon Worley served as producer. Creative directors Jelly Helm, Jeff Williams, and Steve Luker led the creative team at Wieden in Portland, Ore., that included Shannon McGlothin (art) and Nathan Goldberg (copy). Epoch Films’ Stacy Wall directed.
Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike spent $190 million advertising in 2007, $75 million through April 2008, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
