Ad of the Day: Dick's Sporting Goods Scores Again

Pretty much out of nowhere, Dick's Sporting Goods has suddenly been coming up with some of the most impressive sports-related commercials, uh ... I'm going to go with "ever," actually. This new football commercial, and the previous baseball spot, both made by Anomaly and director Derek Cianfrance, are little masterpieces of between-play tension that use only the space most other sports ads leave out. The point is blindingly obvious, but only once it's made: This is where the teamwork happens. The quarterback calling the plays. The coach sending players in and out. The furious guard on the offensive team shouting at his defensive counterpart, "Next play! Next play!" It's reminiscent of the actual process of playing football in a way that few ads—hell, few movies—really are. And it reminds you what's so much fun about the whole process: the rush you get right before you try to do something you've been planning for a while; the nervous high of hearing somebody yell for the snap. It's most of what we actually remember from the sport, as opposed to the long runs or the great kicks. Like the baseball ad, this spot is done in a single, Robert Altman-style take, with volume coming up on the players as they pan in from the right, yelling encouragement at each other and threats at the other team. Unlike the baseball spot, it's louder, it's busier, and best of all, it contains absolutely no music. The closest thing we get to a dominant sound, in fact, is the QB screaming for the snap at the end and then the empty noise over the branding. Kudos to agency director. This here is a 40-yard pass. CREDITS Client: Dick's Sporting Goods Agency: Anomaly Chief Creative Officer, Partner: Mike Byrne Creative Director: Seth Jacobs Creative: Taylor Twist, Mike Warzin Executive Producer, Head of Production: Andrew Loevenguth Producer: Matt Flaherty Business Director: Damien Reid Account Supervisor: Ji You Production Company: Radical Director: Derek Cianfrance Executive Producers: Frank Scherma, Donna Portaro, Tommy Turtle Head of Production: Cathy Dunn Production Supervisor: Rebecca Deelo Director of Photography: Peter Deming First Assistant Director: Mark Frishman Art Director: Timmy Hills Costume Designer: Jim Mancusso Casting, Football Supervisor: Mike Fischer Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors Editor: Biff Butler Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum Producer: Melanie Gagliano Postproduction: Company 3 Telecine: Tom Poole Executive Producer: Tara Dowd Visual Effects, Flame: Framestore Executive Producer: James Razzall Senior Producer: Graham Dunglinson Visual Effects Supervisor: Alex Thomas Visual Effects, Comp Supervisor: Sharron Marcussen Computer Graphics Supervisor: James Dick Flame Artists: Raul Ortego, Tom Leckie Sound Design: Trinitite Sound Designer: Brian Emrich Sound Mix: Sound Lounge Mixer: Rob Sayers Music: Soup Music Music Composer: Andy Huckvale Track Name: "Sawtooth"

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Dick's Sporting Goods Scores Again—on the Football Field

Another great single-take spot

Sam Thielman

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Sam Thielman