By Robert Goldrich

A tale of two Nike spots–one sparse and stark, the other a sophisticated tour de force production. Yet both, despite being executional worlds apart, share a common bond, promoting social action, empowerment, inspiration, the belief that we can and must do better–messages that took on a gravitas much needed in 2020, a year presenting historic challenges ranging from a pandemic to economic turmoil to brutal racial injustice and political divisiveness that reached new lows. The creative work underscores the fact that to meaningfully connect with consumers and society at large, brands can and need to take a stand for something. And for eloquently demonstrating and exemplifying that dynamic, Wieden+Kennedy’s Portland and New York offices stood out during a tumultuous time, earning distinction as SHOOT’s Agency of the Year.

The alluded to bare-bones Nike ad, “For Once Don’t Do It,” debuted on May 30, just days after the brutal death of African-American George Floyd while in police custody. As protests sprung up around the world, Nike released a :60 which urged the antithesis of its iconic “Just Do It” slogan. Titled “For Once, Don’t Do It,” the minute consisted of several lines of copy against a black background, followed by the Nike swoosh logo. Subsequent to the “For Once, Don’t Do It” declaration, these lines of copy appeared.

• Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America.
• Don’t turn your back on racism.
• Don’t accept innocent lives being taken from us.
• Don’t make any more excuses.
• Don’t think this doesn’t affect you.
• Don’t sit back and be silent.
• Don’t think you can’t be part of the change.
• Let’s all be part of the change.

Fast forward a couple of months to the end of July when Nike rolled out “You Can’t Stop Us,” am ambitious production featuring a split screen series spanning 36 pairings of athletes and relating the kinetic movement of one sport to another. The collective of famed and unknown athletes included on the former score Megan Rapinoe, Serena Williams, LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, Eliud Kipchoge, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappé. Developed through research of more than 4,000 individual pieces of footage, the resulting montage underscored commonalities shared by athletes around the world, highlighting connections and unity we may not always see. The spot–which encompasses 24 sports, 53 athletes and 72 final sequences–broke at the height of closed gyms, empty arenas and stadiums due to the pandemic. Still this didn’t stop athletes from pushing forward and using their platforms to help create change and strive for an equal playing field.

The split screens of elite as well as everyday athletes meshing with one another represent the importance of togetherness. Spot narrator Rapinoe, the equality activist, U.S. soccer star and two-time World cup champion, says, “When things aren’t fair, we’ll come together for change. And no matter how hard it gets, we will always come back stronger–because nothing can stop what we can do together.”

While “For Once Don’t Do It” espoused what we need to do in order to battle injustice, “You Can’t Stop Us” showed us that what’s needed can be achieved when we come together. The spots both challenge and empower us. And in a year marked by isolation, alienation and a feeling of powerlessness, this inspirational messaging is what many of us needed to hear.

This sense of purpose coursed through Wieden+Kennedy’s creative veins in 2020–whether it be Nike, Procter & Gamble or the Oregon Health Authority, among others, out of the Portland, Ore. office, or clients including McDonald’s, Ford and Sprite from W+K NY. 

Karl Lieberman, executive creative director, W+K NY, observed that when the pandemic-caused shutdown first hit and put into question how new content would be produced, the initial orientation was being “reactive to logistics.” But as production plans and approaches developed, a shift took place. Instead, he continued, “over the course of the summer we were reacting to what was happening in culture as we were freed from the logistical issues.”

From this came positive reinforcement of an agency stance which brands embraced–take action first, ads second.

Among the work cited by Lieberman in that vein was an initiative from Coca-Cola brand Sprite which made a $500,000 donation to the Black Lives Matter Global Network and pledged to work with that group to help create a better future for the Black community at large. And via W+K NY Sprite then debuted its “Dreams Realized” commercial during the 2020 BET Awards telecast. Mixing images from Black Lives Matter protests, historical footage and scenes captured in Atlanta, the spot shows the resiliency of Black America which has often had to forge out on its own to pursue the American Dream. 

As the coronavirus impacted communities of color at a disproportionate rate, Sprite also upped its commitment to hip-hop creators representing the next generation of musicians, designers, photographers and artists who suffered job/income loss as a result. Sprite launched The Give Back in its hometown of Atlanta, allocating $300,000 toward grants to: emerging fashion designers and artists; support for Mali Hunter’s EarthGirls Inc. foundation which benefits the next generation of Black female musicians through mentorship, education, entrepreneurship, health and wellness; funding for Cam Kirk Studios to educate up-and-coming photographers, designers and other creatives; and stimulus packages for DJs in the hip-hop ecosystem adversely affected by the pandemic.

Lieberman also pointed with pride to McDonald’s “One of Us” which, he said, “came at a very raw emotional time for everyone.” Like Nike’s “For Once, Don’t Do It,” this McDonald’s spot deployed text to promote racial justice, sharing the names of seven African Americans who died in police custody or due to race. The seven are: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

The McDonald’s message read in part, “He was one of us. She was one of us. They were all one of us. We see them in our customers. In our crew members. We see them in our franchisees. And this is why the entire McDonald’s family grieves. It’s why we stand for them and any other victims of systematic oppression and violence.” The last two lines affirmed, “We do not tolerate inequality injustice or racism. Black lives matter.”

On the pandemic front, McDonald’s participated in the practice of saluting healthcare workers’ shift change at 7pm ET everyday via its Twitter “McClap.” And the brand initiated a “Thank You Meals” program through which more than 10 million meals were given to healthcare professionals.

W+K NY also helped roll out Ford’s pandemic payment relief program for customers, making it the first automaker to initiate such action. W+K quickly turned around six TV spots and social videos to show that Ford was up to the COVID-19 challenge. Some 350,000-plus customers signed up for deferred vehicle payments of up to 90 days. And 98 percent of them were back on payment schedules as of September. 

Separately, Ford committed to manufacturing desperately needed ventilators and PPE. Meanwhile the pandemic undermined any traditional kind of launch for the much anticipated return of the Ford Bronco, a brand which W+K had been building for two years. W+K pivoted form a major auto show debut to a social-media-based organic strategy. A dedicated Instagram page fueled excitement for the long-awaited reveal, for which the agency fashioned a partnership with Disney and Best Feature Documentary Oscar-winning (Free Solo) director, mountaineer/adventurer Jimmy Chin. Three original films reinforced the Bronco “Built Wild” campaign mantra through the stories of outdoor influencers. That was followed by a product manifesto that scored online, holding the top slot on YouTube and Twitter sans any paid social media support. The launch proved successful by helping to generate Bronco reservations in excess of 230,000–a total representing 18 months worth of vehicle production.

Esprit de corps
“I’m most impressed by the resiliency of our people and the amount of work we created,” said Eric Baldwin, executive creative director of W+K Portland. He observed that after an initial bout with stock footage and seemingly limited options at the outset of the pandemic, the agency began to more fully tap into its in-house and outside resources in tandem with the prospects of working remotely. “We learned how to move a lot faster, work more efficiently. At a certain point we realized this (pandemic) isn’t going to end any time soon. We’ve got to keep going.”

The immediacy needed in such responsiveness has to always be balanced with another consideration, observed Matt Hunnicutt, director of integrated production, W+K Portland, who cited the agency’s legacy of great work. “We stand on the shoulders of giants who were before us,” he said. At the same time, continued Hunnicutt, “our ability to receive a brief and be live in the market within a matter of days is critically important. We need to move at the speed of culture while retaining that legacy of storytelling.”

Helping achieve that delicate balance in 2020 was an esprit de corps within W+K that grew stronger and closer–even as physical distance increased with remote interaction replacing in-person collaboration. Agency-wide conversations–albeit with Zoom–became weekly, stepping up from what had been the pre-COVID quarterly norm. Nick Setounski, head of integrated production, W+K NY, noted that these discussions have been “very open and democratic” with people searching for solutions, sharing work, their concerns, perspectives on heavy issues.

Setounski said that this dialogue fortified the human bond. “All of us, some more than others, have experienced tremendous personal hardship this year, yet look at the work we’ve done. Behind that work is some person going through hell but still trying to bang this work out. The racial issues, the tragedies we’ve all seen, the pain experienced. I’m so grateful to all of these people who were able to bring themselves to work despite what they’ve endured.”

Further motivating W+K talent was a sense of purpose with messaging that often transcended “advertising” and was geared towards the greater good. For Baldwin, while 2020 was a difficult year generally, it carried a silver lining of serving to affirm “simple things that still resonate” such as his steadfast belief in The Golden Rule and the need to have more empathy which he said has grown “across the board” at the agency. 

That empathy and Golden Rule simplicity are not only reflected in the aforementioned Nike work, but in W+K Portland efforts for local clients, including Oregon Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority, which yielded the “Stay Home, Save Lives” campaign that included the “Essential Heroes” PSA. In a stark series of still images, we are introduced to the frontliners–such as healthcare workers, first responders, grocery store employees, janitors, bus drivers and many more–whose efforts help ensure that Oregon continues to operate during time of crisis. A voiceover relates, “They’re out there for you. Stay home for them.”

Showing the value of staying home whenever possible and how we all can play a role in the health of our community, the Oregon campaign, which broke in the early stages of the pandemic, was embraced by others nationally to help advance responsible behavior. The creative premiered in March and by mid-May had more than 4 million organic views, according to Travel Oregon, which also played a role in getting the campaign off the ground.

W+K Portland additionally turned out food for the soul on behalf of Procter & Gamble, first with “Love Is All They See” and then with “Love Who They Are.” The former show us that things both big and small make a positive difference for those we love–building the quality of life with a home-cooked meal, the sewing of a face mask for protecting yourself and others, the reading of a story, being together, consoling one another. When kids and adults feel the love, the foundation is built for a better world. And “Love Who They Are” captures a dad’s support of and love for his LGBTQ+ child. “You gotta be you, and you gotta do you,” says the proud father as part of a heart-to-heart conversation between the two about what it means to be a parent.

This P&G fare embodies the contributions of JOINT, Wieden’s fully owned yet independently operated postproduction company, and W+K Studios, the agency’s development and production arm consisting of a collective of makers and creators across production, post, VFX and audio. These two nimble entities came together to bring the P&G pieces to fruition, reflecting the growing importance of having such capabilities to proceed on projects in responsive fashion–and that proved particularly true in light of the COVID-19 crisis.  W+K Studios and JOINT were also behind projects such as Nike’s “You Can’t Stop Sport,” and the Netflix documentary Speed Cubers. JOINT proved essential in assorted pieces of work such as W+K NY efforts including the Ford Bronco and COVID-recovery campaigns, McDonald’s response to the Black Lives Matter movement and its Thank You Meals initiative for healthcare workers.

Patty Brebner, director of W+K Studios and JOINT, related that being proactively involved in relevant content during 2020 not only did some good in the world at large but had therapeutic value for agency artisans. “It felt good to be able to do something. We were feeling hopeless and helpless. To be able to take what you do really well and apply it to something that will help during the pandemic means something. I’m not a grocery clerk. I’m not a healthcare worker. The thinking is that maybe this is how I can make a difference.”

At the same time, what Brebner described as “the core tenets” of W+K Studios and JOINT continued to make a difference on another front by reaching out to find talented people and afford them opportunities. “It’s been a way to connect with and support people who otherwise might not be discovered, who  may not have access to a brand or the creativity that we have. Going back decades, we’ve been about identifying that diamond in the rough, helping them understand brand culture and agency culture without tamping down their creative voice. When I had the privilege of working with Dan (Wieden) and David (Kennedy) back in the day, we went about figuring out how do we find people who are super talented, interesting, even rough around the edges from a client perspective and give them space to be creative, to help them by providing guardrails that they could become productive within.”

This collective of emerging talent complements in-house artisans, perhaps most notably editor/director Peter Wiedensmith who founded JOINT back in 1996.

In the midst of W+K’s socially conscious output, Netflix’s alluded to Speed Cubers shows that there was also room for lighter entertaining fare at the agency in 2020. The documentary chronicled the journeys of Rubik’s Cube-solving champions Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs. Also in the entertainment vein, Supercell, creator of the Clash of Clans and Clash Royale video games, spread some holiday cheer with a W+K Portland spot celebrating “Clashmas”–well not quite due to someone in the Clash universe who craves attention: The Log. Despite being wood and tree-like, The Log was never getting the love and adoration other trees were getting during Clashmas. With this new spot–“No More CLASHMAS!”–The Log finally gets its day in the sun. Hearkening back to the start of the year, W+K Portland kicked things off with the return of the original Old Spice Guy Isaiah Mustafa while introducing young breakout star Keith Powers as his TV son in “Time Out,” part of the “Smell Like YOUR OWN Man” campaign. And W+K NY even brought smiles to a pandemic-sparked situation with Bud Light’s “Cardboard Fan,” taking liberties with cardboard cutouts of fans who filled sports stadiums this season, replacing actual people. In this commercial, a sole contrarian flat cardboard cutout goes ambulatory in pursuit of a Bud Light. This cardboard gent, a New York Giants football fan, goes out of his way to hoist a brew, eventually coming together with his human counterpart in front of a TV set watching the game.

Golden rule
In addition to the time-honored Golden Rule cited by Baldwin, there’s another Golden rule at W+K–namely that of Tiffany Golden, producer of community programs under whose aegis is progressive societal work for brands like Coca-Cola and Old Spice, as well as agency-driven projects affecting positive change in the larger Portland community.

On the latter front, 2020 saw a digital and OOH “The Answer is the Problem” campaign come to fruition in tandem with Portland City commissioner JoAnn Hardesty. The work poses a series of questions like: Who shows up when you call 911 about a nonviolent dispute? Who shows up when you think someone is experiencing a mental health issue? Who pulls you over for a broken taillight you didn’t know about? All elicit the same response: an armed Portland police officer. “The Answer is the Problem” campaign advocates other options, noting that it’s time to “rethink public safety.”

Golden also gave W+K’s Black employees space to share their stories, addressing the question, “What does it mean to be Black today?” Feedback via Instagram was multi-faceted and heartfelt, including the creation of a Reparations Receipt with itemized entries such as recompense for the entire foundation of American music, fees for sanitized history lessons, and back pay for not being paid the full white guy dollar, 

Golden additionally sparked a Black Utopia campaign delving into what Black America aspires to while asserting that the starting point for making this possible is 100% voter participation from the Black community. 

“Inactivity is gross now,” affirmed Golden. “Everybody has the means to do something.” Golden feels fortunate that W+K is a workplace that encourages such involvement. But she senses a groundswell of people rising up generally–even if they have to do so on their own, tapping into their skills to advance a cause or movement. “People have lost jobs but are still volunteering and helping others.” That, she said, has been one of the silver linings of a challenging 2020.

Golden broke into the industry through Streetlights, the nonprofit that connects people of color to film industry careers. Golden’s participation in Streetlights, a production assistants training program formed to give minority and disadvantaged youth a chance to climb up the industry ladder, was a first step that eventually led her to W+K seven years ago. She in turn now is looking to help others ascend in the business. Her track record includes three years leading the 51% for, the affinity group for the women of W+K. She supported and co-chaired Word is Bond, a nonprofit created to build relationships with young Black men and the police. Golden led the Creatives of Color Collaborative in tandem with Oregon Media Producers Association. Last year Golden was the ADCOLOR “Rising Star” nominee for her contribution to the betterment of the community. She continues to produce client fare, community collaborations and equity work in nontraditional spaces.

Golden’s efforts are part of an ongoing movement throughout W+K empowering its staffers to exercise their voice, addressing issues and concerns important to them. This came into play perhaps more than ever in 2020, yielding breakthrough work not for clients but for the greater good. Prime examples included “Call It COVID-19” and the Queer Brick. The latter–a rainbow-colored brick painted by a Black queer artist in-house at W+K NY–was created as a symbol of the rainbow-washing of Pride with an acknowledgment to where Pride began long before it was a celebratory festival or month. At its roots, the brick was a projectile thrown through a window to protest police brutality and systemic injustice against LGBTQ+ people. The Queer Brick was auctioned off along with posters of the Brick, fetching $21,000 to benefit the NY-headquartered Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBTQ+ Youth.

Meanwhile “Call It COVID-19” was created by one of W+K’s employee affinity groups, Asiancy, in response to increased discrimination against Asians around the world due to the coronavirus outbreak.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Derogatory remarks and tweets from President Trump–with references to the Wuhan flu and the “kung-flu”–helped fuel hate crimes against Asians. Asiancy pushed back with a thoughtful video noting that you often don’t know what a word can do unless that word is about you. For young Asians, they call their parents not just to find out what’s new but to warn them to stay at home because something dangerous is brewing. W+K staffers could no longer be bystanders with such fear mongering afoot and in some circles allowed to flourish.

The Asiancy team, said Baldwin, was motivated “to do something.” Their work reflected what he described as a year when “a lot of people’s voices at Wieden were heard. They had a chance to really shine in terms of the work they initiated.”

Golden observed that the community, social justice and equity-promoting endeavors of W+K’s people inform their efforts on behalf of mainstream clients. She observed that personal participation in progressive, caring, empathetic efforts serve to enhance and advance creativity, which in turn can help brands better express and define themselves with messages that resonate with consumers. 

While W+K was all about encouraging different voices to be heard, the agency took a stand for shared core values when it comes to collaborators. This is reflected, said Hunnicutt, in the W+K Production Contract of Values statement. 

Hunnicutt noted, “This statement is just one very, very small part of our new Green Initiative and comprehensive DE&I Initiatives that are focused on accountability and actions, but it does a really great of encapsulating our belief system into a few sentences. For perspective, we share this with all potential partners in order to set clear expectations and to help all parties provide follow-through opportunities based on a number of details shared in our bidding specs. This includes all initial legal contracts with every vendor, all bidding specs, RFPs, service agreements, and all other official documents through to the delivery of every job W+K produces.”

The W+K Production Contract of Values statement reads: “Our work should be a platform to amplify unheard voices and bring diverse perspectives to our productions in an ethically and environmentally responsible way. We believe in the Black Lives Matter movement and in the fight against self-evident injustices against all marginalized, vulnerable, and underrepresented groups. We are committed to being both actively anti-racist and environmentally conscious in everything we do in order to effect justice for people and the planet. Our production relationships must be based on shared values, and if you do not support these sentiments as one of our partners, we do not want to be affiliated. There will no doubt be missteps, but we are committed to listening and learning. This is the time for exponential change, and we hope that together we can work toward an equitable and sustainable future for all.”

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