ordinary extraordinary sports fans

Ok.

Creating good espn television commercials is sort of an easy task in the scheme of things <in the world of creating good advertising>. It’s not like having to explain how my detergent is somehow better then another detergent <that is 25cents less and claims to do the same thing>.

Anyway. As long as you stay away from the trite sports analogies there is so much material to work from it is difficult to actually create something really bad.

Therefore the standard of measurement is high. All espn commercials are pretty likeable … it is the laughable/cryable/re-wartchable ads … in combination with its ability to reach beyond the simple sports fan <because a bunch of the ads are almost like inside jokes> that become the ones worth mentioning.

On tv is one of the one worth mentioning.

The Michael Jordan execution. It is not just funny but also relatable. It is brilliant in its simplicity. It is brilliant in the idea. It is brilliant in its everydayness. And it is brilliantly done.

It would have been tempting to overproduce this idea but someone truly understood the strength of the idea was … well … the ordinary. The ordinary guy stuck in every day life … dealing with the extraordinary expectation heights of sports fame.

This is for every person out there who has the same name as a famous person.

ESPN Michael Jordan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxBBN3ZnYeU

One last bonus.

Choosing the best ESPN commercial is like choosing a favorite among your own children. That said. Here is my top 1 called Believe. Beyond the fact they used a really interesting production technique which permitted them to do a shitload of stuff … this execution is brilliant because everyone, ALL sports fans, could relate. In addition the nuances in the execution … the gnome falling over at the end … the grandmother jumping out of the wheelchair … are all priceless.  Frickin’ priceless.

Believe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcD9r4RBCoo&feature=related

I wish I could find the only other espn commercial I still talk about even though it appeared sometime in the 90’s. It was a sportscenter NHL ad “ever wonder what goes on in an NHL locker room between periods..?” and the camera shows a team of hockey players making balloon animals … and one player showing the rest and saying “what do you guys think about this one?” Awesome. So absurd it was awesome.

Written by Bruce