![]() Moments later, Jordan flashes a mischievous grin and walks away, leaving Lee hanging helplessly in midair. The campaign’s first spot begins with Lee standing on Jordan’s shoulders and holding onto the rim. Opposing NBA teams got the assassin, and viewers watching Nike’s commercials got the charmer with the charismatic smile and playful sense of humor. He was primarily known as the world’s most dominant basketball player, an athletic marvel with otherworldly physical gifts and the competitive drive to take the most innocuous slight and use it as motivation to lay waste to opposing teams.īy pairing Jordan with Mars Blackmon, Nike was able to gradually humanize its most valuable commodity. This is how the campaign altered Jordan’s image !īefore the Spike and Mike campaign debuted in 1988, the public perception of Michael Jordan was largely two-dimensional. I still haven’t asked him his reason, but for some reason he decided to give me a shot.” Just give me one of the top guys on Madison Avenue.’ But Michael Jordan didn’t do that. “Michael Jordan could have easily said, ‘Look, I can’t take a chance on this young gun, this young boy. He didn’t even know who Spike Lee was and Spike had never directed a commercial in his life. “At that time, Mike had not seen She’s Gotta Have It. All that was left was for Nike to greenlight the campaign, no small hurdle considering Jordan had to approve and he was often selective about who he worked with or how he would be used. He kept saying, ‘For real? For real?’ ”Įventually, Lee realized this was a legitimate offer, and he quickly accepted. You’re bulls-ing me.’ He thought this was one of his buddies pranking him. “I can’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of ‘ F- you. “I introduced myself and told him I wanted to talk to him about doing a Nike ad with Michael Jordan,” Davenport said. Lee’s phone number was listed in the Brooklyn directory, and he answered when Davenport dialed. When Riswold and Davenport called Lee to gauge his interest in co-starring with Jordan in a series of Nike commercials, they didn’t have to go through an agent, publicist or secretary to reach the young filmmaker. “ We had to keep moving into fresh territory.” “We’d almost already worn out the concept of getting a great NBA player and showing a slow motion shot of them dunking the basketball,” former Nike director of advertising Scott Bedbury said. Riswold and Davenport were responsible for figuring out how to reveal Jordan’s likability and charm in less than 60 seconds, potentially enabling him to reach a broader audience than just teenage basketball players who wanted to jump higher. Nike awarded Wieden + Kennedy the Jordan contract in hopes that the innovative little Portland firm could dream up something more creative than a slow-motion dunk video. They showcased the elegance of his body and his staggering athleticism, but they did not explore the type of person he was, whether he was someone you’d only want to watch play or someone you’d also invite over for dinner after the game. Most of Jordan’s early Nike ads followed a familiar pattern. Nike had been clamoring for a fresh approach to marketing its most valuable commodity. ![]() “We both recognized this super fan character would be the perfect foil to pair with Michael.”įor Riswold and Davenport, the timing of that discovery could not have been more perfect. “Bill and I looked at each other like, ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking? You better be thinking what I’m thinking,’ ” Riswold recalled with a laugh. ![]() A fast-talking, Michael Jordan-obsessed bicycle messenger named Mars Blackmon hardly ever removed his Air Jordans during the movie, not even when he finally bedded the woman of his dreams. Intrigued, Riswold and Davenport sought out Lee’s film and discovered that the young director also played a fictional character practically created to star in a Nike commercial. Spike Lee told viewers he would be peddling socks the rest of his life if they didn’t go see his low-budget debut movie, She's Gotta Have It. Only because they went to see About Last Night did the Wieden + Kennedy duo stumble across the inspiration they needed to conceive of Michael Jordan’s most recognizable ad campaign.Ī trailer that aired before the movie began showed a little-known filmmaker on a Brooklyn street corner hawking tube socks 3 for $5. The luckiest break Jim Riswold and Bill Davenport ever caught was watching a vapid romantic comedy together in Los Angeles 33 years ago. And this campaign didn't annoy me or wanted me to skip or run to the fridge to get me something to drink. the one with Michael Jordan and Mars " Spike Lee " Blackmon. How this iconic Nike "Michael Jordan and Mars Blackmon" campaign started. ![]()
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