adidas

Adidas is a name synonymous with youth culture, sporting excellence and urban cool. It has been the chosen apparel of some of the greatest athletes in the world and has also been the subject matter of many a hip hop legends lyrical content. But the unassuming beginning’s of the sporting giant is a story that has not been explored by the brand during its lifespan, and is now the focus of its latest TVC and impending anniversary.

The legacy that the diffident Dassler brothers have left is a mighty one. There humble beginnings in a kitchen produced a sports giant that still is the only real rival to Americas sporting hulk that is NIKE. Aolf (Adi) Dassler was originally trained as a baker and began to produce his own sports shoes in his mothers wash kitchen after his return from world war I. Enlisting the help of his brother Rudolf (who later went on to found another sports behemoth – PUMA) they worked to equip several athletes with their newly designed spiked running shoes at the 1928 Olympics. After several victorious runs from athletes (notably the American Sprinter Jesse Owens) wearing the adidas footwear, the foundation for the international expansion of the company had been set.

Early adidas TVC’s lacked the street smarts of the modern brand image that we have grown accustomed too, and as you can see here – are fairly hilarious.



But fortunately for the awkward CEO Horst Dassler, this was all about to change. Cue the eighties and the birth of Hip Hop, adidas was about to be given an injection of street cred that it never had before. The four pillars of the discipline: Breakdancing, Graffiti Art, MCing and DJing all demanded that you be rocking a fresh pair of sneakers. Most sportswear brands were adopted by Hip Hop devotees, but only one would have a fetishistic ode lyrically illustrated at length by the legendary trio Run DMC.



So adidas had captured the attention of a cultural movement that would define a generation, whilst maintaining its sporting roots at the same time. This was a solid base to build upon and the next twenty years saw adidas solidify its hardcore sports image whilst maintaining its musical and cultural capital at the all important street level.





Even the last couple of years has seen adidas snatch another attempt at being immortalized in another musical movement with UK grime artist J2K and loudmouth chav Lady Soverigns impetuous endorsement / single ‘hoody’.





This week saw the launch of 180 Amsterdam and Stink’s new execution ‘Adi Dassler’ which takes the brand away from brash artist / athlete endorsements and instead focuses on the man who made it all happen in the first place. As a tribute to Dasslers innovative nature and history, this sparkling little animated piece adds a touch of fairytale to the ongoing adidas story.
For a look at adidas commercials throughout the years, click here.

NewsReel 14/02/08

Remember to keep sending in all your adland news - even if it is just shameless self promotion - and we'll do our best to feature it here. Please send all press releases or anything that could fall under the banner of news to sam@thereel.net.

BAFTAs
Among the great and good of last Sunday’s BAFTA winners was ‘The Golden Compass’ for Achievement in Special Effects. Regular Reel resident Framestore CFC contributed key VFX work to the project and their VFX Supervisor Ben Morris was part of the contingent that went up to accept the award. That was not the only award that went to friends of The Reel; Aardman were victorious with their Luis Cook directed short ‘The Pearce Sisters’, which won the award for Best Short Animation.

Attia’s in Oursin
Caroline Attia, a director specialising in animation, has joined the roster of French production company OursinFilms. Her idiosyncratic style of animation can be viewed here.

New Spies
Toronto based Spy Films, home to previous Reel Ones to Watch Trevor Cawood, have added Lena Beug and David Drebin to their directors roster. Photographer Drebin is delving into moving pictures for the first time and Irish filmmaker Beug has previously won Best International New Director at the 2005 Shark Awards and garnered recognition for her MTV ‘Intro Guy’ campaign.



Phil Griffin is Rockhard
Phil Griffin, formerly of Anonymous Content, has joined Rockhard Films, Los Angeles, for spot and music video representation in the U.S. and Canada.

Recent music videos include ‘Rehab’ and ‘Back to Black’ for ‘complicated’ singing sensation and tabloid favourite Amy Winehouse, along with videos for Paul McCartney, Prince, Bon Jovi, and a dance extravaganza for Basement Jaxx.

In 2007, Phil made his foray into commercial directing, and has since directed spots for clients including Tk Maxx, GHD (featuring Helena Christensen), and Max Factor.

Phil Griffin joins the current roster of Rockhard Films, which houses Marc Klasfeld, Ray Kay, Keir McFarlane, Rob Pearlstein, and Tony Petrossian.


Don’t be coy, be Coy!
Mark Denton, formerly one third of Therapy Films, has set up Coy! More news of the sure to be exciting new London based production company will follow next week.

Badland
Rapper, businessman and Mr Beyonce Knowles, Shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z aka Hova aka Jigga Man, can now add Chairman of Translation Advertising to his list of monikers. We’re not sure if we’ll be crediting ‘Translation Advertising’ as the agency on any spots on The Reel any time soon, but hey, you all just got a little something in common with a hip hop legend and that’s gotta’ be newsworthy.

Caaaaars, they’re multiplying; it’s electrifying
Strictly speaking it’s not really news; more of a prediction, but who’d want to bet against this startling bit of computer generated animation finding its way in some shape or form into a car ad sometime soon? This was the second effort utilising the unique technology - that has since continued up to a 4k Project in the space of a year - but we think this is the best looking example. View it after the jump.

The 1k Project II