In this “Will Makes Us Family” global campaign for Under Armour, Droga5 NY focuses on rigorous training of athletes worldwide. In this anthem film we see these performers around the world–spanning different skill levels and body types–all united by a common denominator that got them to where they are today: Will. The determination, perseverance and dedication to training makes us all family and unites us no matter who we are, where we are from, or what we set out to accomplish.
What do a boxer, a skier, a ballerina and an NFL athlete have in common? They all experience the same pain, the same burning muscles, the same exhilaration–as do less famous, everyday performers.
Athletes featured in the campaign, alongside everyday athletes, include: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton; Misty Copeland, principal ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre; Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn; champion golfer Jordan Spieth; and Olympic gold medalist and heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.
Directing the anthem film were Jodeb of production house PRETTYBIRD (who helmed the sequences with Newton, Copeland and Spieth in Atlanta, and Vonn in L.A.) and Michel + Nico of Believe Media (who directed Joshua in London).
Credits
Client Under Armour Agency Droga5 NY David Droga, creative chairman; Neil Heymann, chief creative officer; Tim Gordon, executive creative director; Ray Smiling, creative director; Stephen Shocket, copywriter; Patrick Horton, art director; Nate Moore, design director; Jaymes Barone, sr. designer; Sally-Ann Dale, chief creation officer; Jesse Brihn, director of film production; Kyle Wright, Carole McCarty, executive producers; Nathan Pardee, producer; Taylor Donaldson, associate producer; Mike Ladman, music supervisor. Production PRETTYBIRD Jodeb, director (Atlanta/Cam Newton, Misty Copeland, Jordan Speith; LA/Lindsey Vonn); Mike Ragen, DP (LA/NY), Evan Prosofsky, DP (Atlanta); Suzanne Hargrove, exec producer; Tracy Hauser, director of production; Dennis Beier, producer. Production Believe Media Michel + Nico (London/Anthony Joshua); Fredrik Backar, DP; Liz Silver, Luke Thornton, James Covill, exec producers; Vitaly Koshman, head of production; Luke Tilbury, producer. Editorial Exile Edit Max Koepke, editor; Mitch Goldberg, assistant editor; Sasha Hirschfeld, exec producer; Gwynne Evans Reid, producer; Charlotte Delon, associate producer. Postproduction Method NY Angela Lupo, exec producer; Robert Holland, VFX producer; Tamriko Barda, Kyle Fader, VFX coordinators; Tom McCullough, lead Flame artist; Chris Hunt, Kevin Quinlan, Flame artists. Color Company 3 Sophie Borup, Kath Raisch, colorists; Alexandra Lubrano, producer. Music “You Can Make It If You Try” Gene Alison, composer. Sound Heard City Jeremy Siegel, mixer/sound designer; Ronnie Stapleton, assistant mixer; Jackie James, exec producer.
Tonal, the strength training system combining revolutionary digital weight technology with personalized, AI-powered coaching, has introduced its new brand platform, “Power Progress,” and advertising campaign developed in partnership with Quality Experience (QX), the creative independent agency founded by Ari Weiss.
Directed by Aube Perrie of Pulse Films (UKMVA Director of the Year 2023 & 2024, UKMVA Best New Director 2021 and Webby’s Best Music Video 2022) with visual effects from The Mill NY, this brand film contrasts how the heavy chains of the past still shape how we work out today, with Tonal representing the future of fitness.
In addition to the brand film, the campaign includes cutdowns ranging from 90 seconds to 15 seconds, with even the shortest spot clearly connecting the old and the new. French director Perrie’s body of work includes music videos for Harry Styles, Megan Thee Stallion, and RM’s “LOST!”
“Sports marketing has had a long history of breakthrough advertising,” said QX creative chairman Weiss. “We wanted to launch with an idea as disruptive as the product itself. Not an easy bar to live up to. Like any great idea the insight is dead simple but the execution is unexpected and riveting. Great sports marketing doesn’t happen without great sports marketers and the team at Tonal shared our ambition to make the marketing as disruptive as the product.”
