Impossible is nothing

I like the new Adidas brand campaign.  It's the first time I can remember Adidas doing something meaty and interesting with their "Impossible is Nothing" idea.  The idea is a few years old, but the work in the past always seemed hollow to me.  It used a lot of digital trickery to show people doing things that were, well, impossible (like this and this and this).  Even their big World Cup ads last year, which lots of people liked, felt flat to me.  At the end of the day, while all the special effects and expensive athletes were fun to look at, what they were showing was impossible.  What I took away was "Impossible is nothing, but only if you have a $2 million production budget and a lot of celebrity athletes to work with."  It was literal and uninspiring, and there was no emotion behind it, no reason to connect with it.  It never made me feel anything.

I like the new campaign (from 180 Amsterdam/TBWA) because they've found a different way to express the idea of doing the impossible.  It uses real personal stories from various athletes (including David Beckham, Gilbert Arenas, Jonah Lomu, and Lionel Messis) talking about challenges they've overcome, about times they've felt they couldn't go on because of their self-doubt, fears, injuries, or critics.  And as the athletes are interviewed, they draw and paint aspects of their story.  It's like watching art therapy.  Some of it even gets quite dark (in the Beckham one he talks about being hated by his entire country, seeing himself burned in effigy, and crying a lot).  But it's really compelling.  It makes you realize how rarely advertising shows actual negative emotions.

If you haven't seen it, here's the launch montage:


And here's the full Beckham video.  And the rest.  The website's quite good too.

Some stories are better than others, but they're all lovely to watch, beautifully filmed and edited, and refreshingly much lower-tech.  And for the first time I feel like Adidas has uncovered the promise of the "Impossible is Nothing" idea.  They've made it personal and human.  At least it finally makes me feel something, unlike all the earlier work.  After watching these I get inspired and I actually get what it means to attempt something that everyone else thinks you can't do.  Not that I've actually, you know, attempted anything myself.

Comments

[oakie]

I just visited the adidas website yesterday and found this campaign better than the past. Messis's story is touchy and convincing.

[Julien Coulter]

I also think they have finally found a unique voice. The big production spots, seemed like wanna be Nike spots (only not as good). I'm sure misattribution was high. I also think this campaign plays nicely against the cultural belief (and rightly so) that athletes are spoiled and out of touch. It brings to light the best aspect of sport: perseverance and achievement against the odds. I actually feel more inspired watching these than seeing Jordan, Woods, or Ronaldinho do something superhuman.

[Michael Takasaki]

You've both hit the nail on the head, Julien and Jason. I found myself actually getting a little misty watching the Beckham spot. Now, to be fair, I come very close to weeping every time "The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid is on TV, but I submit that any spot that can make David Beckham a genuinely sympathetic character has to be called effective.

And I love that they used Gilbert Arenas, who's having a breakout year and emerging as the biggest, most enjoyable kook among active athletes.