When last we heard from R/GA re: the Nike account, the agency had named Alex Schneider as the first managing director of its Portland office after ECD Ben Williams and group creative director/Nike lead Sammi Needham moved to the Northwest to be closer to the client’s headquarters.
So the relationship between the two has grown stronger, and R/GA launched a new spot today to coincide with the release of the “Kyrie 2 Effect,” which bears the name of Aussie-born Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving. It is definitely not the most heinously designed pair of sneakers we’ve encountered since those early-’90s Jordans.
In the ad, Irving doubles as a mathematician of sorts.
We like the “x W(TF) squared” chalkboard joke, but the message may slightly contradict the brand’s identity as the act of dominating the court is all about the physics of human bodies in motion rather than Nike’s one-of-a-kind arch support.
Kyrie does seem to enjoy schooling people: last month, Pepsi relaunched its “Uncle Drew” campaign with a way-too-long spot in which a white-haired Irving showed the young, dumb kids how it’s done.