Johannes Leonardo Celebrates ‘#OriginalSuperstar’ for Adidas

By Erik Oster 

Johannes Leonardo explores the meaning of the term “superstar” and celebrates Adidas’ original Superstar shoe from 1969, while trotting out a slew of celebrities, in a new 90-second spot entitled “#OriginalSuperstar.”

Those celebrities aren’t just current and former athletes; NBA player Damian Lillard makes an appearance, along with David Beckham, but so do Pharrell Williams and Rita Ora. It’s a sign of the brand moving away from an athletic-wear image and hyping up its fashion cache. “If you think a superstar is standing on stage, filling up stadiums, and selling out concert halls,” Ora begins at the opening of the spot, and the rest of the 90 seconds follows the same basic formula. Each celebrity begins their own “If you think a superstar…” statement before passing it on to the next, until Pharrell finally concludes, “…then I am not a superstar.”

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Over the course of the 90 seconds the repetitive, onanistic approach becomes a little grating. The self-congratulatory statements hint at the question “What is a superstar?” but, ultimately, the ad doesn’t say anything of substance on the (rather facile) subject. This would be a bit more excusable in a quick 30-second spot, but ninety seconds of celebrities musing about nothing in particular begs the question, “Where have we seen that before?”

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