An empty, unmade bed is the focal point of this regional :30 promoting Nike’s ACG line of sports apparel. The wood-paneled room is almost spartan; recessed in the back wall room is an aquarium, its oxygen apparatus bubbling away.
Heavy clothing lies rumpled on the unkempt bed. A male voiceover relates, with little inflection: "It dumped 13 inches up at Mount Hood last night. Mike got up early to make sure he was there for first tracks."
For a moment, there’s slight movement under the blankets. Is Mike still snoozing? But the voiceover continues, "By now, he’s about ten minutes away from the mountain." And a tabby cat emerges from the covers.
Nonetheless, Mike will find himself lacking once he reaches the white-powder summit. "It sure would have been nice," adds the voiceover, "if he remembered his pants."
The commercial—which maintains its tight focus on the bed and its immediate surroundings for the entire time—concludes with the supered appearance of the ACG logo.
"Bed" is part of a three-spot ACG package directed by Andrews Jenkins via Portland, Ore.-based Food Chain Films for Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), Portland. (Jenkins is repped nationally by Stiefel+Company, Santa Monica.)
The simple, virtually locked-down shot in "Bed" is akin to the visual approach in ACG’s "Dog." A close-up of a dog named Oscar fills the screen for that spot’s entirety. He’s fast asleep on a hardwood floor. The voiceover says that Oscar is a reliable watchdog on "most nights." But today, Oscar did eight miles on the river trail. As we hear banging in the background—possibly noises being made by an intruder—the voiceover observes that with Oscar in slumberland, "tonight you could walk right in, steal the TV—and go back for the stereo." Again, the ad ends with the ACG logo.
The W+K team consisted of creative directors Dan Wieden and Susan Hoffman, writers Mike Byrne and Ian Cohen, art directors Danielle Flagg and Matt Peterson, head of production Ben Grylewicz and producer Chris Noble.
David Cress executive-produced and Brad Goldthwaite line-produced for Food Chain Films. Eric Edwards was the DP.
The campaign was edited by Sam Selis of Portland-based Joint Editorial, an arm of W+K. Patty Brebner produced for Joint.
Michael Nicholas and Jim Barrett of DownStream, Portland, served as Inferno artist and colorist, respectively. Audio mixer was Lance Limbocker of DownStream Sound, Portland.
