Nike will launch a $15-20M campaign this weekend from
Wieden & Kennedy that "invites TV viewers to go to the
Internet and pick endings for 'cliff-hanger' commercials,"
according to USA TODAY's Michael McCarthy. Three new TV
ads, featuring Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire, sprinter Marion
Jones and snowboarder Rob Kingwill, will "push" the Air
Cross Trainer II shoe, which goes on sale this month. The
Jones spot will air during "high-profile programming,"
including the NFL playoffs. McCarthy writes that the spots
are "shot through the viewer's eyes, putting watchers in the
middle of the action." At the conclusion of the TV ads,
viewers "intrigued enough" can "drop the remote and grab a
mouse" to choose among seven endings at whatever.nike.com.
W&K Creative Dir Hal Curtis: "We're trying to take a 30-
second experience and turn it into a 15- to 20-minute
experience." Nike "partnered with" Apple, Exodus and Akamai
"on video applications needed" for the site, which goes live
Saturday. Consumers can "access digitized versions of the
spots" and also buy the shoe via the site. W&K Interactive
Creative Dir Steve Sandoz said that while consumers "might
appreciate Nike's convergence of media, some TV networks are
a 'little threatened' by the idea because it urges viewers
to turn from their TV to their PC" (USA TODAY, 1/12). In
its release announcing the initiative, Nike states that some
networks won't allow the "continued at" portion of the ad to
run and will only show the URL address (THE DAILY).
ABC WANTS NIKE EDITS: ABC-TV has been running a revised
version of Nike's Lance Armstrong ad. In the original spot,
Armstrong is seen taking a blood test and says, "I'm on my
bike six hours a day, busting my ass." But ABC's version
omits the "busting my ass" phrase and does not include the
shot of the vile of blood after the drug test (THE DAILY).
