Ad of the Day: Puma

Droga5's "After Hours Athlete" commercial for Puma, which won the Grand Prix in Film Craft at Cannes last month, really was a finely tuned piece of work. Set in the bars, bowling alleys, ping-pong halls and karaoke clubs of an indistinct city, it followed a group of hip (but not too hip) young night owls—amateur athletes in the ultimate semi-pro sport of nightlife—from dusk until dawn, celebrating their victories, smiling at their defeats, all to the sounds of a lilting string symphony and gruff, poetic voiceover. Certainly a worthy spot to be called the year's most expertly crafted. Now, we get this sequel, "Pump Up." Same agency, different director—Pulse's thirtytwo, stepping in for Smuggler's Ringan Ledwidge. Gone as well are the music and the voiceover. In their place, the young partiers themselves provide the soundtrack—by chanting the familiar "Everywhere We Go" call-and-response fight song, with the lyrics reworked to pay tribute to their own late-night exploits. The settings are similar to the original spot—bowling alley, darts and pool halls, falafel truck, city taxis. Rather than a :90, this spot is a :60, and there's no dusk or dawn—it's a series of after-dark vignettes with no real beginning or end. But while the visuals are similar, the whole tone is different. Despite the endless grinning and posing, the previous spot had an oddly melancholy air—the heroism being found in the intensity and commitment of the characters' pursuit of fleeting moments gone by sunrise. The new spot is the exact opposite—macho, even frat-boyish, and self-aware. By singing their own praises, the characters embrace the semi-absurd premise, which doesn't feel quite right. They're not athletes; they're just out for a night on the town. Any overly faithful sequel to "After Hours Athlete" might have felt like a retread. But this one loses the thread of the original to such a degree, it doesn't feel much like Puma at all. It feels like Nike doing Puma. [jwplayer 8eLAsDl4-1kT9Z8rj] CREDITS: Client: Puma Spot: "Pump Up" Agency: Droga5 New York Creative Chairman: David Droga Executive Creative Director: Nik Studzinski Executive Creative Director: Ted Royer Copywriter: Tim Gordon Art Director: Amanda Clelland Head of Integrated Production: Sally-Ann Dale Agency Producer: Ben Davies Associate Producer: Sarah Frances Hartley Strategy Director: Ben Jenkins Executive Producer: Candice Chubb UK Producer: Neil Andrews Production Company: Pulse Director: thirtytwo Director of Photography: Matthias Koenigswieser Editorial: Final Cut Editor: Jeff Buchanan Assistant: Sonejuhi Sinha Executive Producer: Stephanie Apt Producer: Viet-An Nguyen Post Production: Absolute Executive Producer: Sally Heath Line Producer: Mitch Stockwell Flame Lead: Jonathan Box Assist: Betty Cameron Colorist: Ben Eagleton Music: Human Sound: Sound Lounge Mixer: Keith Reynaud Mixer: Evan Mangiamele Assistant: Sasha Awn

Brand Marketing

Ad of the Day: Puma

Droga5 crafts an odd sequel to its Grand Prix-winning 'After Hours Athlete' spot

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd