“There are over 400,000 NCAA athletes. And just about all of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”
How many years have ads for the NCAA been using these words in their ads? The same words, mind you, but always with different stories wrapping themselves around that interesting thought.
In contrast to the many many brands that come up with a smart idea and move away from it way too soon because a fiesty young creative gets bored with it, the NCAA is sticking to this very smart platform and keeps coming up with interesting ways to craft stories around it. Like this.
This new work is some of the most surprising they’ve done, a tribute to whoever’s the guardian of the brand at the NCAA, and to Y&R in San Francisco, who produced these ads. Same copy they’ve been using for years, and in this case, a strikingly arresting (and different) visual story.
Stick with it, all of you guys doing these ads. You’re proving that you can keep your hand on the tiller, not make any sharp turns, and still stay in uncharted waters that deliver surprising adventures. Well done.
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4 comments:
i've never liked these commercials. they look cheap and the lighting is always the same sickly/dark green that reminds me of funger hall (nicknamed fungus hall) where i took us history...
the motto is cool, and i dig the effects--especially in the most recent ones--but can't they make it seem less gloomy?
I know the guys who did these; they love special effects and have probably never been to Funger Hall. I think your "gloomy" is their "expressive." C'mon, join the hep set!
As a former athlete who went professional in something other than the sport I participated, I love these ads. Most importantly they signal to most student athletes that the chances of them making money playing their sport, yes even hockey, football and basketball, are measured in fractions of fractions. As for the execution, I don't mind it as it's critical to freshen the message visually.
You can argue execution til you're (maize and) blue; the one hard-to-disagree-with nugget is the idea behind these ads,which has been consistent for years now. As you point out, Fred, a smart, solid idea that resonates, thanks to a true and powerful insight.
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