ESPN Teams With Wieden+Kennedy For Spot Highlighting Sports-Themed Funerals

ESPN and Wieden + Kennedy, N.Y., took the net's “excellent ‘It's not crazy, it's sports’ campaign into posthumous territory,” according to Tim Nudd of AD WEEK. The net yesterday released an online documentary titled "Team Spirit" that explores “one of the most peculiar -- OK, craziest -- sports topics around: fans who take their favorite teams with them to the grave." The eight-minute film, directed by Errol Morris and posted to ESPN's YouTube page, looks “at the unlikely trend of sports-themed funerals.” The theme is an “odd and unsettling topic, to be sure.” But in Morris' “skillful hands, it becomes a surprisingly poignant expression of just what sports means to people.” Morris achieves the “perfect tone -- bemused yet respectful, lighthearted yet heartfelt.” The film is “shot and scored beautifully, with artful title cards and graphics and playful music” (ADWEEK.com, 8/1).