Roger Federer has joined the long list of star athletes to appear in ESPN’s “This Is SportsCenter” ad campaign. The world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player recently shot a pair of ads for the iconic campaign from Wieden & Kennedy and they are scheduled to begin airing in May.
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| In one of the ads, Federer tells a dejected Neil Everett
that he wouldn’t rank the anchor among the top 10 on ESPN. |
In “Freebies,” Federer chances upon the desk of “SportsCenter” anchor Stuart Scott, who just happens to have a new can of tennis balls. “Figured if anyone could use these, you could,” Scott says. Though unfamiliar with the brand name, Federer opens the can — and yelps when a giant spring worm flies out. “That’s not funny,” a petulant Federer insists, handing the can back to Scott and walking away. “It’s a little funny,” counters Scott.
In the second ad, “Seeding Doubt,” ESPN anchor Neil Everett tells Federer that what he likes about tennis are its seedings. “I like the concept of knowing exactly where you stand at all times,” Everett said.
But he is disappointed after asking Federer where he would be seeded among ESPN anchors, and learning that Federer would not rank him in the top 10. Considerable moping ensues before the traditional ending of the “This Is SportsCenter” graphic.
Through a decade on the air, the more than 250 “This Is SportsCenter” ads have employed athletes and celebrities from Bill Bradley to Tiger Woods. The spots have become as renowned among ads as Miller Lite’s “Tastes Great, Less Filling” campaign from McCann-Erickson, which yielded more than 200 ads over a 15-year period, beginning in 1973, or the 300 Polaroid ads from Doyle Dane Bernbach that paired James Garner and Mariette Hartley in the late 1970s.
