Cool: TBWA’s Olympic ad for Adidas.
Makes sense? I don’t know — yes, there are many people in China and so I’m guessing the theme is something grandiose along the lines of “standing on the shoulder of billions.” But it’s looks a bit like they’re competing somewhere in hell — not my idea of a good brand association. (Would any of my account planning readers like to chime in here?)
Maybe they’re tapping into some sort of macho thing — see my previous post on a GM car ad.
Via the Longyin Review newsletter.
The stills definitely look as if they’re in hell (kinda reminds me of the cultural revolution too), but after seeing it on TV, I’m pretty sure people will get the right idea— the crowd is cheering for them, instead of dragging them into the dark abyss
You are not alone. The first impression I had of these advertisements on seeing them on billboards inside China was the somewhat bizarre juxtaposition of athletic achievement and treading on the masses, as if to say, China’s population is so massive that for every star athlete there are thousands of people whose role it is to be reduced to that of fodder.
The idea of jumping on other people, diving into them, trampling them while apparently wearing soccer cleats, it all seems so callous rather than appreciative. “Thanks, to all the little people who supported me along the way, pardon me while I step on your heads…”
Coming from an individualistic culture as I do, I find this concept rather offensive. I would be curious to know how somebody born and raised in China ‘among the masses’ would relate…
Upon further reflection, Rodin’s Gates of Hell, an interpretation of Dante’s Inferno, comes to mind, especially when one sees the people contorted into shapes to support the athletes. If you have ever seen Gates of Hell up close, the similarity is eerie.
Go Adidas!
I’ve blogged about it over here but in principal the deconstruction is that the people are the reason for the success. Sadly there aren’t any international faces in this international event in Chinese advertising because as we all now know. Its ALL about China.
Its still better than most advertising thought I’m not holding my breath for Adidas to understand what they can do in China with this sports clothing obsessed country. They could have rewritten the rule book if it wasn’t for the dull spreadsheet marketeers that do this country an injustice!
http://charlesfrith.blogspot.com/2007/12/simple-semiotics.html
adidas is all about team, whereas Nike is about individuals. So basically the ad emphasizes that the one billion are part of this team.
That said, Chinese athletes who compete and succeed on a global level are national heroes and heroes-in-waiting. Lets not forget that most Chinese star athletes are bred from the government sports schools; literally training in hell. The athlete stories behind probably influenced these art directions. At least, thats my read… “Yes athletes.. you’ve come far in hell over the years.. And we support you on this endeavor”.
Charles: Your blog has some funny redirect thing that throws it from blogger to charlesfrith.com, at which point it goes from charlesfrith.com to charlesfrith.com indefinitely :/
To return to topic: Why is it ALL about China? Is that just how it’s been played out, or are there reasons?
And to the others: Do you think the message connects with the average dude on the street who wants to buy a pair of shoes? That’s what I want to know: Do regular people connect with the “I’ve just waded through hell to get this good” message?
Hi Jason. I bought my domain name and transfered it from blogspot to domain name and it took a day or two to iron out the digital kinks. I’m banned now in China which makes me a dissident I guess.
I see the Olympic narrative as all about China. Its an international event and I have yet to see one state message that embraces the international side of it or any advertising that includes different ethnic groups. I find that China is solipsistic when it comes to the even and missing out on the pluralism and celebration of competition.
There are reasons for this in much the same way that media literacy tells us a lot about cultures.
Do I think the message connects with average dude? I think it appeals to the them in a simplistic way without stretching them as to the full meaning of the Olympics and its potential to replace the narrative of war with competition. I think the tonality and art direction is outstanding and that is more important than messaging as Feldwich et al have written about how advertising works.
I’d give it 7/10 Good but no Gold!
Charles:
Actually, we had this problem before. Having your own domain name doesn’t work if you stick to the same blog host (which I think you’re one… I got a google ‘pls refresh’ message while loading some stuff, so I’m guessing that it’s pointing from charlesfrith.com –> blogger hosting (which is owned by google))… it’s probably just blanket-blocked all of blogger: So that people get to charlesfrith, which redirects them to a blocked-blogger. Did that make sense? If you want a hand porting over to your very own wonderful wordpress platform, lemme know.
Re: China-only ads. Check. As for art direction, yes, it IS stunning; didn’t know that it has been recognized as more important than messaging in many cases (I guess I do spend most of my advertising-reading time on account planning blogs/books, not advertising as a whole).
Oi. While I have your attention, you around in Beijing next week? I’m dropping in for a few days…
PT Black pointed out to me a few weeks ago that Nike and Adidas are taking opposite approaches in their ads. Nike’s are all about the individual, while Adidas are about the collective.
It does look like something from Dente’s Inferno
Look at the VISA ad for Team Australia during the 2006 Commomwealth Game, you will see the uncanny resemblence….well if there’s “plagiarism” in the ad word, this is a very nice case.