Winter is here, people. And unless you're a baseball player passed out somewhere in the Caribbean sun, you're going to have to deal with it.
Or rather, enjoy it.
Wieden + Kennedy's new Nike campaign is all about how painful it can be for athletes dealing with the harshness of winter weather—unless you happen to be wearing the brand's Hyperwarm baselayer of workout apparel, in which case you're impervious and awesome.
Chris O'Dowd amusingly stars as a weatherman of sorts, who hyperbolically describes the effects of the cold on the human body. It's not pretty. And yet his dire warnings are at completely at odds with what's on the screen, as we see cold-weather athletes going about their business—with their brains and extremities in full working order.
O'Dowd is a likable guy and an unexpected choice, and the whole spot has some of the wry, freewheeling atmosphere of the Bradley Cooper-voiced "Possibilities" spot from last year—though it's more cartoony with the faux-weather-show setup.
The film is the first in a multi-part series, Nike says, with this first installment featuring football stars Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson, soccer players Clint Dempsey and Brad Evans, distance runner Mary Cain, figure skater Gracie Gold and snowboarder Johnnie Paxson.
Among those to be featured later in the campaign are hockey's Dion Phaneuf and baseball's Yasiel Puig—who must be playing in a winter league in Iceland.
CREDITS
Client: Nike
Project: Choose Your Winter
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Stuart Brown, Chris Groom
Copywriter: Nathaniel Friedman
Art Director: Sara Phillips
2D Artists: Tim O’Brien, Edgar Morales
Global Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Agency Senior Producer: Erika Madison
Production Intern: J.R. Celski
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz
Account Team: Marisa Weber, Molly Rugg, Jordan Muse
Business Affairs Manager: Karen Crossley
Broadcast Traffic: Tobin Kittoe
Project Manager: Lauren Walker
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples, Mark Fitzloff
Production Company: Reset
Director: Adam Hashemi
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Line Producer: Andrew Travelstead
Director of Photography: Ben Seresin
Production Designer: Jeremy Hindle
Editorial Company: Exile
Editor - 60: Kirk Baxter
Editor – 30s: Nate Gross
Executive Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver
Post Producer: Toby Louie
Assistant Editor: Grant Hull
Finishing: The Mill LA
Executive Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Leighton Greer
Creative Director/2D Lead: James Allen
3D Lead Artist: Tom Graham
2D Artists: Jale Parsons / Brad Scott / Jake Maymudes / Nick Tayler / Jason Bergman / Chris Payne
3D Artists: Robert Chapman / Josh Hatton / Martin Rivera / Matt Longwell / Milton Ramierz
Matte Painting: Thom Price / Rasha Shalaby
Motion Graphics: Andrew Marks
Colorist: Adam Scott
Color Producer: Natalie Westerfield
Music Company: Walker
Executive Producer: Sara Matarazzo
Composer: Michael Picton
Arranger: Judson Crane
Track: “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” by Edvard Grieg
Sound Design: Barking Owl
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Executive Producer: Kelly Bayett
Mix Company: Lime
Engineer: Rohan Young
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan