The Nikes Jumped Over the Moon
Cow , produced by
Jim Riswold, Alice Chevalier, and John Jay of Wieden & Kennedy, with
animation assistance from Gordon Clark and Peter DeSeve of Wildbrain Animation
House.
Cow is an animated
fairy tale that targets the subteen who still responds to the child within. But
it is just as likely to engage the old folks of the athletic shoe
market--Gen-Xers and the thirtysomethings. (As far as Nike is concerned, anyone
past these demographics is a retired consumer.)
Naturally, we never see a
real shoe in this animated spot--that would break its tone. It opens, instead,
with a cow grazing in a bucolic field. Out of shape and shoeless, this one is
an eater, not an exerciser. Responding to the whistles and taunts of Old Man
Moon, she attempts to re-enact the fairy tale and "jump over the moon."
Leaping, then falling ("Ooh," says the moon), she lies splayed on her feeding
ground.
The fallen creature now
responds to the strains of "Destination Moon" on the soundtrack: "Come and take
a trip in my rocket ship." And what is the rocket? A Nike "swoosh" logo appears
in a thought balloon over the animal's head. The brand doesn't have to be
mentioned: In the age of the advertised image, where television often seems
more real than real life, the Nike swoosh is ubiquitous. The cow squeezes into
the barn, then races outside wearing Nikes. "We'll travel fast and light," the
song goes--as the animal soars over Old Man Moon, punching him so hard that he
sees stars.
Cow 's message isn't
that Nikes are a substitute for working out. Rather, the spot tells you that if
you wear the shoes and just do the rest, you'll soar, whether your moon be the
NBA, a three-mile jogging path, or a playground. The high-jumping bovine also
reinforces Nike's core identification with basketball and the Bulls' Michael
Jordan. And, because the spot uses an animal, excluding all references to race,
gender, or a particular sport, soccer kids in Beverly Hills are as likely to
embrace it--and the product--as hoop shooters in Harlem.
The spot ends with the Nike
slogan that is now as familiar as the swoosh. Evoking freedom, a safe
rebellion, "Just Do It" is the life-affirming bookend to Nancy Reagan's "Just
Say No."
Cow recruits the next
generation of Nike wearers by building a bridge between young people's innate
sense of play and the next stage--competition. Shoes signify more than sports
these days. They stand for self-image. If young people do it now, Nike knows
they'll keep doing it later.
The fairy
tale goes on: Buy the shoes, and jump the moon. And it doesn't matter if it's
all bull.
--Robert
Shrum
