Ad of the Day: Adidas

If there's one thing I love, it's watching my favorite sports organization score a goal unit against the sports organization from that place I've always hated. Seriously, I am occasionally a football guy, but am rarely moved by sports advertising. This Adidas ad from 180LA, however, is something out of the ordinary, and in a good way. Its star, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, is not a person who inspires easy empathy—that's what comes of signing a five-year, $94.8 million contract as your base salary. But this ad drags human feeling out of you simply by showing the poor guy lying on the ground, clutching his knee, as TNT's Kevin Harlan bellows, "Holding onto his knee … holding onto his knee and down." I suppose director Stacy Wall is showing us how thoroughly the world of the sports fan grinds to a halt when his favorite sports-organization constituent can no longer score goal units. But Wall is also adroitly demonstrating how freaking awful it is for a guy who makes his living running, jumping and feinting to tear his ACL and leave the sport for the rest of the season. Rose is the youngest player in NBA history to be MVP—the rule that allows the Bulls to break the salary cap for an early-career MVP is named after him. Can you imagine being that 23-year-old hotshot with the world on a string one second, mid-playoffs against the 76ers, and suddenly having nothing but physical therapy to look forward to the next? You'd squirt ketchup all over the sidewalk, too, just like that girl in the slo-mo shot near the hot-dog vendor. Rose had surgery in May, and is expected to be out for eight months to a year. But the point guard's recovery has become something of a team sport in and of itself for the city of Chicago. He swears he's coming back (seriously, $94.8 million), but if you've ever torn a ligament, you know you need support in every sense of the word. Adidas is tapping into that, perhaps even at the expense of its product. (Can anyone tell me what this ad is selling? Shoes? OK, shoes.) But there's a lot of warm-and-fuzzy brand identification to go along with this spot, and it kind of makes you want to chant and clap your hands whenever you see a shot of Rose on the screen. Go, Derrick! I don't understand your sport or your stats, but your knee looks like it hurts, and I want you to get better! CREDITS Client: Adidas Spot: "Wake Up" Agency: 180 Los Angeles Executive Creative Director: William Gelner Creative Directors: Gavin Milner, Grant Holland Copywriter: Dave Horton Art Director: Matthew Woodhams-Roberts Head of Production, Managing Partner: Peter Cline Senior Producer: Natasha Wellesley Director of Client Services: Chad Bettor Account Director: Jerico Cabaysa Account Manager: Paul Kinsella Planning Director: Martin Ramos Production Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker Director: Stacy Wall Director of Photography: Hoyte Van Hoytema Senior Executive Producer: Doug Halbert Producer: Mary Livingston Production Designer: Dominic Watkins Stylist: Lee Ann Jarvis Casting: PR Casting Street Casting: David Robinson Shoot Location: Chicago Shoot Date: Aug. 11-14, 2011 Editorial Rock Paper Scissors Editors: Adam Pertofsky, Grant Surmi Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver Producer: Juliet Batter Assistants: Neil Meiklejohn, Marjorie Sacks Completion/Special Effects Colorist: Adam Scott Transfer Facility, Visual Effects: The Mill Visual Effects Supervisor: Kathy Siegal Flame Artists: Tim Bird, Nick Taylor, Elad Offer, Margolit Steiner Computer Graphics Artists: Edward Hicks, Wyatt Savarse Head of Production: Arielle Davis Producer: Sabrina Elizondo Recording Mix Recording Studio: Juice Date: Sept. 20, 2012 Final Mix: Sept. 20, 2012 Mixer: Bob Gremore Assistant Mixer: Chris Zavala Executive Producer: Natalie Pranevsky Sound Design Sound Design Company: 740 Lead Sound Designer: Eddie Kim Executive Producer: Scott Ganary Producer: Adrienne Alexander Client Credits Senior Vice President, Global Brand Marketing: Nicole Vollebregt Global Brand Marketing Director: Ryan Morlan Global Brand Marketing Manager: Lorrin Pascoe Senior Global Digital Manager: Lia Vakoutis

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Adidas

A city grieves for Derrick Rose, and awaits his return, in 180LA's show-stopper

Sam Thielman

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Sam Thielman