Just Das It

When it comes to sports brand icons and their TV commercials, more often than not, I’m impressed by Nike, perplexed by Gatorade, and fascinated by Adidas.

While Nike continues to blast down the road of consistently strategic and surprising work, and Gatorade rambles along a twisty turny highway in search of the Holy Grail of millenial connection, Adidas keeps crossing the street and trying different routes.

They tell the story of Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas, and the true origins of the company, to stake a claim as an authentic original. And they do it via a 3 minute film. In claymation.

And they make a House Party spot with David Beckham, Missy Elliott, and other funky friends, to celebrate 60 years of Adidas originals.

Adidas does a lot of really interesting, entertaining work. I usually like it quite a bit. Case in point: Two new shoe ads featuring Derrick Rose (he of the phantom SAT test)…



…and Dwight Howard (he of the perhaps-overthrowing King James tonight)…



They look and sound different, which is good (voiced by Chali 2na from Jurassic 5). And they do a pretty clever thing: They talk about the power and efficacy of the clothes and shoes in the context of the power and efficacy of the athlete. I thought this was a smart way to surround the info they so desperately want to convey.

So in terms of breaking through the insanely crowded communications clutter, I’d say they’re successful.

But they’re not as strong as the new Nike work.

For me, the Adidas work doesn’t resonate as much as the new Nike puppets with Kobe and LeBron, for a simple reason: Even the most sports-astute marketers often forget how great it is to just watch amazing athletes do amazing things. It's why I love this spot so much.



You get humor, you get personality, and you get authenticity. While Adidas has cool technique, Nike 180’s that and goes anti-cool; you can’t get much more low tech than felt puppets.

I’m not saying the Adidas work isn’t good. It’s pretty darn cool. It just doesn’t feel as spot-on authentic as the Nike work. Am I wrong? Am I too Old School? Am I on the Nike payroll?

Maybe, probably, and definitely not. But you tell me.