The Spot: ESPN's Perfect Game

In 17 years and almost 400 ads, W+K's 'This Is SportsCenter' campaign has triumphed by barely changing at all

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GENESIS: The original premise of ESPN's "This Is SportsCenter" ads, launched in 1995, was that the network's Bristol, Conn., offices were the center of the sports universe—a fantasy world where athletes and mascots lived and worked together with anchors and journalists. The conceit arrived fully formed. Aside from the specific athletes and plot lines, Wieden + Kennedy New York has changed next to nothing in the almost 400 spots since. The campaign's style, and even its name, were inspired by This Is Spinal Tap, the rock mockumentary from a decade earlier.

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