This weekend Nike will kick off the pro football season with a new
campaign, “LEAVE NOTHING,” that promises to capture “the true essence
of football.” The ads including broadcast, digital and print executions
feature Shawne Merriman (San Diego Chargers), Steven Jackson (St. Louis
Rams), Steve Hutchinson (Minnesota Vikings), Calvin Johnson (Detroit
Lions), and Amobi Okoye (Houston Texans).
Nike said Merriman and Jackson are the subjects of the broadcast
creative which will also be used digitally. A 60-second version
includes both of the players running, tackling (Merriman), and
side-stepping (Jackson) their way through the course of a season and
straight through opposing teams. Uniforms change from game to game
without the players missing a step.
Two 30-second versions, one featuring Merriman and one featuring
Jackson, have also been created. The spots will air on national
networks and in-cinema beginning this weekend, as well as on-line
across sport and football vertical websites and
http://www.NikeFootball.com.
The spots will also air in-game during regionally and nationally
televised high school football match-ups on ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN2 and FOX
Sports Net.
Michael Mann directed the spots which were produced by Nike in cooperation with advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy.
The print creative has been placed in major national sports
publications including Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine.
Jackson, Merriman, Hutchinson, Johnson and Okoye will be individually
highlighted in these print ads.
