Give me Culture, or give me Death!

Ok folks, by a show of hands how many of you like pollution?

Anybody. . .anybody. . .

Ok. By the amount of hands that have gone into the air, it looks like no one does.

Makes sense to me. Pollution, when you see it, is unattractive, irritating (in a best case scenario), and when you are faced with it, your immediate reaction is a visual distaste (it's nothing inspiring to look at).

Well from where I sit, large chunks of advertising are visual pollution. I completely agree with Lee Clow when he says that, when done right, brands can be made inseparable from culture (unable to distinguish where one starts and the other begins). When the advertising that expresses what the brand is about, takes the opportunity to seduce you, something stirring happens.  More often than not, though, that's not the case. So much advertising is not culture.  Lots of it is uninspiring, smoggy, visual pollution.

If a company does an ad and you can't tell whether it's about culture or the brand, then I feel whether by design or by accident, you've moved to the next level.

Enter Nike's new 3 minute epic dubbed "Write the Future". Created by ad agency Wieden & Kennedy and directed by  Alejandro G. Inarritu ("21 Grams," "Babel") the spot communicates: this is the culture of the World Cup. Not this is an ad for Nike.

The article by Ad Age, discussing it, landed in my inbox this past Thursday. And when I began seeing response after response, speaking to the fact that it felt more like a 3 minute roller coaster ride into the culture of international soccer, than a branded ad, then I think my thoughts are this:

Wieden & Kennedy + new Nike spot = epic win.

Below are a small sample of comments that I cut and paste from the article's comment section. They definitely show that this video is more than just advertising. . .it's culture.

By adkid | Detroit, MI May 20, 2010 04:16:38 pm:HOLY CRAP!! It's like boiling down the hyper connected, pop culture/social media obsessed world we live in into a 3 minute piece of video bliss. But does the brand have enough presence? I remember it was about Renaldo more than I remember it being about Nike. Still. Pretty kickass.

By Tom | Atlanta, GA May 21, 2010 08:41:29 am: The Song is Hocus Pocus From The Dutch band Focus. It's from 1971 and reached #9 on the Billboard chart in the US during the Spring of 1973. It's really perfect in that spot. It feels like an ad for soccer more than Nike. Strategically a win for soccer than is a win for Nike- particularly in the US.

By mikedickman | Lighthouse Point, FL May 21, 2010 10:01:03 am: I didn't know it was a Nike ad when I began to watch, or began to write this post, I am not sure I would remember now. Nike = soccer?

By LINDA | MIAMI, FL May 21, 2010 09:51:03 am: Great energy. Builds excitement. Very light on branding. NIKE who?

By pedropey | arlington, VA May 21, 2010 11:57:15 am:

The best Nike ad ever? No.

The best Nike soccer ad ever? possibly.
The best Nike ad in the past four or five years? Most definitely.
It's got everything for everyone. Even non-fans will have to admit, it's entertaining and exciting. For die hard fans, some of the moves are the best filmed soccers moves ever.
Kudos, WK Amsterdam.