W+K Brings ‘Boom’ Along with Bling to Nike

By Bob Marshall 

Just in time for the beginning of the NFL season, Nike’s new ‘Boom’ campaign from Wieden+Kennedy Portland celebrates the best of sports, namely the big hits and big plays we’ve come to love and expect from our heroic athletes.

So, where does former corrections officer and legally troubled rapper Rick Ross fit into the picture? Consider, if you will, “boom” replacing “snap” at the forefront of the American exclamatory lexicon. In other words, where a professional football player might say “boom” after delivering a cranium crushing blow to the opposing team’s quarterback, Rick Ross might say “boom” after dropping about $1 million for extravagant jewelry designed to resemble his face. The average layperson, other the other hand, might say “boom” after tossing a piece of trash into a garbage can 12 feet away, after catching the bus right before it speeds off or after learning they are in fact not the father of the baby in question. Really, “boom” can apply to any situation.

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Other ads in the “Boom” television campaign feature promising NFL rookies Tim Tebow and Ndamukong Suh cheering on boxer Manny Pacquiao while at the tailor (after the jump), a high school drumline getting down, a high school football player impressing Alabama head coach Nick Saban, and former professional football/baseball player Bo Jackson heckling a guy at batting practice. Is “boom” Nike’s next big thing? Will pop culture love it as much as Nike hopes it does?

More:Nike, RZA & Extreme Sports

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