The third iteration of Adidas Originals’ award winning ‘Original Is Never Finished’ film series sees a new line up of stars – endorsers drawn from across the sport, music and fashion fraternities – front the brand’s ongoing, evolving dystopian spot saga.
From the world of sports comes hoops star James Harden, from the music diaspora are Playboi Carti, 21 Savage and Young Thug, while from the celebrity influencer circuit comes Kendall Jenner and creative agency Johannes Leonardo brings them together for a third instalment of its ongoing intense and colourful 2017 Originals commercial series.
What do they all have in common?
Well, Adidas believes they are all up-and-coming stars whose creativity and individuality helps them stand out in a cluttered influencer landscape.
Fresh, rich, opulent, challenging, gritty and even a touch aggressive, the latest ad is again set to a remix of Frank Sinatra’s classic ‘My Way’, the ad is helmed by the director of the previous two spots Terence Neale of RSA Films.
The objective of the new film, which launched on 10 August, is being amplified across all the brand’s digital and social platforms from YouTube,
to Twitter,
The latest definition of Original, building off of the past to spark new ideas on what #ORIGINALis. pic.twitter.com/MJjiZLK8uY
— adidas Originals (@adidasoriginals) August 10, 2017
and Instagram,
is the same as its predecessors – to reflect the brand’s design philosophy of of constant reinterpretation.
“Adidas Originals always wants to stay true to the ethos of endless creativity, and it is important to stay centric to our DNA in that a real original, and authentic creativity, is always a work in progress,” explains Adidas Originals VP of global Communications Alegra O’Hare.
“The great and unique thing about Adidas is the diversity that we embody both from a product point of view and also through the community of people that we work with. For the first time, Adidas Originals has had the privilege of working with a new group of creators, each of whom are a reference point for the current generations. Collectively they, alongside the powerful voice of Frank Sinatra, bring a new and fresh perspective on the meaning of doing it your way,” O’Hare continues.
“It’s a continuation of a story that started in 2015,” said Leo Premutico, chief creative officer for Johannes Leonardo. “What the three stripes campaign is about is removing the mental barriers that keep creators from producing their best work and being true to themselves.”
Comment:
The first spot in the series, launched in January and which won the Grand Prix in Entertainment for Music at Cannes Lions this year, saw Snoop Dogg and other stars in a video salute set to Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ classic ode to independence and individuality (see case study).
The April follow-up spot featured an all-female cast.
The new creative features some of the images already familiar in the series (such as Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’), but this time sees Jenner emerge from a reworked image that looks as much like an Alien-style sleep chamber as a work by the Early Renaissance Italian painter.
Is it a brave or a foolhardy move to feature Jenner after her recent, high profile Pepsi commercial fiasco?
Plus, consumers are questioning whether she genuinely an ‘original’?
But adidas claim the choice is deliberate.
“Kendall Jenner’s courage is something we wanted to celebrate,” says agency co-founder Leo Premutico – citing the media pressure that surrounds the reality star.
Links:
Adidas Originals
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidasoriginals
http://www.adidas.co.uk/originals
https://twitter.com/adidasoriginals
https://www.facebook.com/adidasOriginals
https://www.instagram.com/adidasoriginals/?hl=en
Johannes Leonardo
http://www.johannesleonardo.com/
