This Nike spot is a bon voyage to Kobe Bryant who plays his last NBA game tonight. Over a 20-year career, Bryant has been a champion and an antagonist, an idol and an antihero. He thrived in the midst of negativity, inviting fans and opponents to bring their worst and giving them exactly what they wanted in return—the Black Mamba.
This film directed by Mark Romanek of Anonymous Content for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., shows Kobe conducting players and fans through a rendition of Otis Redding’s song, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” but with slightly different lyrics. Fans and opponents croon the words “I’ve been hating you too long to stop now” directly to Kobe. It’s a send-off that could only work for Kobe Bryant.
Music/sound house was Beacon Street Studios which also handled the audio post.
Titled “The Conductor,” the spot will air tonight (4/13) on ESPN during Bryant’s final game as the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Utah Jazz.
Credits
Client Nike Agency Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’ Rourke, creative directors; Josh Bogdan, Nathaniel Friedman, copywriters; Jacob Weinstein, art director; Matt Hunnicutt, Molly Tait Tanen, Mauricio Granado, producers. Production Anonymous Content Mark Romanek, director; Eric Stern, managing director; SueEllen Clair, exec producer; James Graves, line producer; Greig Fraser, DP. Editorial Exile Eric Zumbrunnen, editor; Brittany Carson, post producer; CL Weaver, post exec producer. VFX MPC LA Michael Gregory, VFX supervisor; Brian Williams, lead compositor; Lexi Stearn, exec producer; Brian Friel, VFX producer; Mark Gethin, colorist. Music Beacon Street Studios, Venice, Calif. Andrew Feltenstein, John Nau, composers; Rommel Molina, sound designer. Leslie DiLullo, producer. Song: “I’ve Been Hating You Too Long To Stop Now” Audio Post Beacon Street Studios Rommel Molina, mixer.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
