Selective Amnesia There was a point to this. But I forgot.

Sachin Tendulkar, David Beckham, Adidas and Impossible is Nothing

What is it about sports brands that makes them come up with baselines that are both memorable, and empowering? And more importantly, why do we even give a fuck?

There’s Nike – who tell you to ‘Just do it’. Not a statement. Not an order. Not a request. Yet, you want to. And the brand hits that note in every commercial, every press ad, every in-store poster it put out for public consumption.

But, this post is not about Nike. It’s about Adidas.

In particular, about its new ‘Impossible is Nothing’ campaign, from an agency called 180 Amsterdam. A video first.

Impossible is Nothing – the old flip-erro. Take a problem/idea/solution/brief/line/visual and flip it around for better impact.
This line does that. Flipped a positive statement – Nothing is Impossible – to negate the very idea is Impossible. But – do the commercials live up to it?

David Beckham does, to a certain extent. What about Sachin Tendulkar?
Before we get to Sachin, here’s one more video.

That’s Jonah Lemu. In case you missed the name in the beginning.

Now, Sachin.

So…what’s the whole fucking point of the post? Well….notice how the first two ads showed the athlete overcoming a serious issue – in David’s case – death threats and a ban on playing. And in Jonah’s case – the dead-weight of the dialysis machine and the fact that they guy couldn’t take a leak without suffering mortally.

Ah, but what about Sachin? Well, the only serious issue he faced, according to this commercial, is that he got out a few times when a kid.

Crap! Come on, folks! When you’ve got a brilliant line, and you have an international star cast for your commercials telling you their life’s biggest challenge, how hard is it to find something equally entertaining and significant for a Tendulkar? Or is this some kinda jab at the guy?

Why the fuck do I care? Well, if I don’t blog advertising, who will?

David Beckham | Sachin Tendulkar | Adidas | Nike | advertising | branding