Nike “The Toughest Athletes” captures the power and strength of women during one of the most transformative stages of their lives, pregnancy and early motherhood.
“The Toughest Athletes,” created with Wieden+Kennedy London, illuminates the correlation of sport and motherhood through the lens of more than 20 mothers across various stages of their pregnancy and postpartum journeys, and is underscored by the likes of Serena Williams, Alex Morgan, Perri Edwards, Bianca Williams, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Nia Ali–along with everyday female athletes.
Filmed during the global pandemic, “The Toughest Athletes” was compiled from more than 22 hours of intimate footage shot by the mothers featured and their friends and families. Each respective shoot was directed via Zoom to keep each individual’s health and safety a priority
With representation from the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, France, Australia, Jamaica and more, moms from across the world help illustrate how motherhood is an ultramarathon.
The film coincides with Nike’s first dedicated maternity collection, Nike (M), available in North America, Europe and Africa. The collection will release in select Asia Pacific and Latin American markets beginning late 2021.
In addition to the collection, Nike also partnered with pre-and post-natal exercise expert Jane Wake to create four audio guided workouts specifically for motherhood in the Nike Run Club app.
CreditsClient Nike Agency Wieden+Kennedy London Tony Davidson, Iain Tait, executive creative directors; Paddy Treacy, creative director; Aaron Skipper, design director; Molly Wuilkof, Derek Lui, lead creatives, London; Jordan Dinwiddie, creative, W+K Portland; James Guy, head of production; Anna Neilson, producer; Paula Bloodworth, global strategy director. Editorial Trim Editorial Vid Price, editor; Jennifer Trividad, edit assistant; Polly Kemp, edit producer. VFX Time Based arts Chris Aliano, VFX producer; Luke Todd, Ollie Ramsey, VFX supervisor; Matt Shires, Will Robinson, VFX artists; Lewis Crossfield, colorist. Sound 750MPH Sam Ashwell, Mark Hellaby, sound designers; Mary-Ann D’Cruz, Martin Critchley, heads of production. Music Walker Music Sara Matarazzo, Abbey Hickman, music supervisor/producers. Patrick Cannell (ASCAP), composer.
Top Spot of the Week: Samsung, BBH Singapore, Director Rhys Thomas Get Fit For A Surf Holiday
Samsung’s new global campaign from BBH Singapore, featuring Samsung Health and Galaxy AI, tells the story of a young professional couple who compete to get fit for a surf holiday.
Titled “A Samsung Health Story: Racing to Fiji,” this film taps into Gen Z’s wellness dilemma and the fact that they can often find health information overwhelming; in particular, BBH Singapore took inspiration from young people who reference their “quarter life crisis” on social media. This film tells the story of Stacey and Steve who decide to go surfing in Fiji, something they did five years ago but haven’t done since they started their jobs. However, there’s one problem: they need to get fitter first.
Featuring a range of Galaxy products powered by Galaxy AI, they rebuild their fitness to prepare for the trip, competing playfully to spur each other on. We see them comparing their Energy Scores (a new feature on the Samsung Health app), recording their runs and swims on their Samsung Galaxy Watches, trying and failing to get fit at work and on their commutes and striving to improve in the run up to the trip. When they get there, however, there’s a fun twist, and the film ends on a cliffhanger.
The ad is expected to be the first in a series, which will develop the characters and their “world” in future episodes. This longform (two-and-a-half-minute) version of the spot delves deeper into the storytelling, in a fresh approach for Samsung’s product campaigns, while the shorter edits focus on driving exposure to specific features.
BBH Singapore also leaned into the entertainment aspect of the spot; it was directed by comedic specialist Rhys Thomas at Stink Films, who has a major TV background. Best known for his work on Saturday Night... Read More