You Can't Stop Us
Nike2020
You Can't Stop Us is a 2020 90-second television commercial for Nike, created by Wieden+Kennedy Portland.
The line
You can't stop sport. Because you can't stop us.
Why it works
Ninety seconds of split screen in which 36 pairs of athletes, elite and everyday, from Serena Williams and LeBron James to Colin Kaepernick and Simone Biles, move as one body across the dividing line while Megan Rapinoe narrates a manifesto about sport bringing people together. Debuting on TV with the NBA's restart on July 30, 2020, in one of the most fractious summers in recent American history, Wieden+Kennedy Portland's film is studied as editing raised to the level of the idea itself: the team researched more than 4,000 pieces of footage, kept 72 sequences from 24 sports, and spent over 1,000 hours compositing so the seams would vanish. Directed by Oscar Hudson of Pulse Films, it was named Adweek's best ad of 2020, won the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2021, and took that year's Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Commercial.
Techniques
- Pathos Split-screen pairs of elite and everyday athletes merge into one body, stirring a feeling of togetherness that the narrated manifesto attaches to sport and Nike.
- Purpose and cause Launched in a deeply divided summer, its manifesto positions sport, and the brand with it, as a force that brings people together.
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