There are certain universal milestones in life—prime examples include a baby’s first step and a child’s first word. While fathers secretly hope that the latter is "Dada," and moms root for "Mama," there are occasions when that initial utterance isn’t in the common lexicon.
Such is the case for a little boy whose one-word vocabulary consists of "DiDo" (pronounced "die-doe").
So just what is "DiDo"? The answer becomes obvious right at the outset of this spec commer-cial directed by Joshua Seftel of Redtree Productions, Boston.
The spot opens with an adult pointing to a child’s puzzle, on which appears a picture of a tiger. The toddler points at the animal enthusiastically and says, "DiDo!" He earnestly repeats this word over and over again, as subtitles translate for him: "Tiger."
Next we see the same little boy in his car seat, going for a ride. It turns out the destination is a grassy area where the boy can practice his swing.
The toddler gets his own little golf club and proceeds to show us his prowess on the links. He drives ball after ball far into the distance. His stance and even his follow-through are textbook.
The sight of such a young child with such a perfect golf swing is both comical and amazing. If ever there was a toddler sports prodigy, it appears that he’s been captured in this ad. Though he might not be much yet at speaking, this little guy is most eloquent on a par-three hole.
The spot then takes us back home, where a golf tournament is playing on the television set. On the telecast, Tiger Woods is seen lining up a shot. The little boy is fixated on the screen, screaming, "DiDo! DiDo!"
Indeed, this kid knows his tigers—both the striped and human varieties. He jabs at the screen happily, crying out his favorite word again and again.
A super against the background of the kid still yelling "DiDo!" at the TV set asks: "Who will be the next Tiger?"
The spot then concludes with the Nike Golf logo, as we see Woods preparing his shot.
Seftel was inspired to do the spec piece upon meeting the 18-month-old boy in the spot, Jackson Marcellus, who is the son of a friend.
In a sense, the spot is a mini-documentary of the child, who actually does get excited every time he sees "DiDo," and coincidentally possesses an extremely accurate golf swing.
A mainstay on Redtree’s directorial roster, Seftel also served as cameraman, editor and audio mixer on the spot, which is aptly titled "DiDo."
He cut the ad on his Macintosh with Avid software. He also did all the mixing on his Mac. Executive producer was RJ Casey of Redtree.
"DiDo" was shot at the boy’s home in Baltimore with a Sony PD 150 camera.
