In the face of a global pandemic, Nike has released an ad campaign to remind people to keep fighting despite adversity. Award-winning agency and longtime Nike partner Wieden+Kennedy presents several athletes and teams who have been counted out or left for dead only to find the strength to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.
In the montage narrated by LeBron James, he states: “We’ve all been underestimated or counted out. At those moments, we felt like it was over.”
Three days after the ad broke, it had over 62 million views.
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After winning Ad Age’s A-List Agency of the Year for the third year in a row, the Portland-based Wieden+Kennedy delivered a powerful message on the healing power of sports.
Visuals include James’ Cleveland Cavaliers team that was down 3-1 in the NBA Finals, as well as Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, and Rafael Nadal all staring at huge deficits.
“But it’s when we’re given no chance that we somehow found that last bit of strength to keep fighting,” the montage continues as Cristiano Ronaldo and Naomi Osaka come into view as Woods rises up from a golf course injury and James picks himself up from a basketball injury.
As Kenyan marathoner Michael Kunyaga crawls to the finish line to secure second place, James’ narration says, “And then we did what no one thought we could. Not even ourselves.”
“Right now, we’re fighting for something much bigger than a win or a championship,” James’s voice booms as a montage of comebacks from Ronaldo, Osaka, Kirk Gibson of the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers, the 2016 Chicago Cubs, Nadal, the US women’s national soccer team, and other athletes are flashed.