Some of Where We've Been
By now, you might have already seen the fruits of FD's collaboration with adidas. If not, behold:
I also want to direct your attention to a couple TOTALLY FD columns I wrote yesterday for The Baseline:
-This Gund/Gray/Bron incident was so shriekingly literary, I nearly considered pitching it like I was a real writer.
-I still agree with this assessment of what Kobe/Melo means, even if last night's game hardly followed the script. That was the most graceful, morally permissible, battle of the titans you could get in the NBA. Also, that game struck me as part-NCAA, part-pros. Don't ask me where that intuition comes from.
-Also, don't neglect last night's dream-like lottery live-blog.
Don't hide from your parents!
Oh, and also: IF YOU LIKE THE ART IN THESE ADS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER VISITING OUR STORE:
Labels: announcements, carmelo anthony, derrick rose, dwight howard, jim gray, kobe bryant, lebron james, links, media, video
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 5/20/2009 11:02:00 AM
31 comments
31 Comments:
Fantastic ads - Free Darko truly rules the world now (plus I've mentioned you on my Hoops Manifesto blog, so that means you really have made it!!) Congrats!
That was probably the coolest thing I've ever seen.. are they going to be cut to :30 and put on the air, or just on the web? Completely awesome either way, great job guys.
Just wow. Congratulations on some well earned success. The Style Guide has always been one of FD's most impressive products. It deserves this kind of visibility.
/bows
Makes me wish Rondo wore adidias. Well done.
I usually don't comment when I like or dislike anything, but the adds merit a bravo.
This is why you guys are awesome. By far one of the coolest campaigns for basketball ever. It's just perfect.
Can we get Kenny to stop fooling around with that damn touch screen dodad and start using the freedarko style guide. Studies of players, and play breakdowns. Would be way cooler if they were animated like this. I see opportunity here!!
Great job everyone involved!!
shocked they didn't have ones for KG, joshua (does his shoe still exist?), and Zero also, since the source material is there...
cool shit though
Shoals,
This may be beyond the scope of what you do or willing to say, but can you give us any background info on how this ad came together? The future direction? Or is this some wait and see/shrouded in mystery type shit?
Yeah, I'd love to see your creative process and what goes on behind the scenes to get things going. And I don't think we're alone!
the question to Gund, what LeBron looked and played like, was not that odd considering that Gund did not go blind until he was 30.
Beautiful, beautiful job on this. It's rare and wonderful to see such a genuine collaborative success between two unlikely partners. Kudos to FD!
I've mirrored this link on my own site, Shoals, if you feel that's inappropriate lemme know and I'll take it down.
@djturtleface - KG is too past his prime (and a little embarrassing after his post game dignity-removal-surgery), Josh has no major appeal to casual fans, and Zero needs at least a half year under his belt before he gets wide press. Rose and Howard are the exact right picks for these spots.
@w2 - Rondo used to be in Reebok, but he's always had impeccable taste in footwear (witness him wearing retro Questions his first year or two), so I won't begrudge him wearing the Swoosh.
Oh, and I second your 2nd post/@Coast - Any info about these from FD would be awesome.
Propers also go to Adidas for having the vision to participate. They need to bring back the Kobe II, world's boldest/ugliest footwear. Mine are silver.
Great article on Jim Grey. Let me add to your suggestion. Have you seen the clip when Pete Rose, against all odds, was honored at some all-star game, invited on the field as one of the greatest players in the 20th century. This is probably a sweet moment for him, and the only recognition he is likely to get from major league baseball, and he totally snuck in because he was voted in by fans.
ANYWAY, piece of shit Jim Grey ruins it by asking him, on the field as he's being honored, if he bet on baseball on a live telecast.
That dude is a human louse.
Huh Backwards K? If I'm not mistaken all three wear and have their own Adidas shoes...KG and Gil pretty much were the Adidas brand as of last year, and are still the focus of their TV ads.
truly inspired
I can't believe I never bought a pair of those Kobe II's when they were forty bucks at Ross. The podiatrical version of the Honda Aztec, a Britney vag shot, or Saddam's hanging...
But that's a tough premise for the networks to sell.I've always felt that the networks were extraneous to NBA coverage anyhow. Before FD there never was any attempt to truly describe or understand the beast that is NBA basketball.
It's truly astonishing that you're receiving corporate recognition from an industry that relies on an obsolete model to disseminate its imagery, when you are the entity that proves said obsolescence. I'm actually excited at the possibilities that stem from FD participating in mainstream NBA media. For too long now the NBA has been tailored to a niche market, away from the drudge of NASCAR and the NFL, but pigeon-holed by racist suppositions about its audience.
FD appeals to me because it focuses on (or near) the thing I always loved most about the NBA: that the gameplay and even the outcomes were dependent upon the personalities of the players involved; and that the league, like it or not, was beholden to those personalities. The sneaker companies have long devoted their advertising efforts to appeal to style rather than substance. FD correlates style to substance. That's the difference to me: FD acknowledges the artistry of the game.
wv:'cochole' that's just...unfortunate
You guys have seriously changed the way I watch basketball. For the better. I'm ready for my Kevin Durant ad/print though. So get started on that, por favor.
to me, FD is like a sleeping aid. it doesn't change how I watch the game, it changes how I deal with having watched. I need to justify to myself why I just spent 48 minutes of my life watching other men, in miniature, do something ostensibly senseless. FD helps me understand my love for the game, or at least I know I'm not alone.
wv: 'fulout' that's more like it
did you guys do the motion yourself? or did Adidas get you some motion artists?
@djturtleface--actually, no one has "their own" Adidas shoe anymore; they quit making signature shoes for individual players a couple years ago...
And otherwise backward K's answers were obviously right--Josh Smith is not widely known enough, Gil hasn't really played in a dog's age, and while KG was the face of Adidas last year, you have to roll with the new...
Besides, the choice was obvious insofar as the two players who got vids are the two Adidas players who won major postseason awards...
This is the kind of work I want to see from adi!
Well done peeps!
I second what "lost" said.
I feel like pulling the sellout card on freedarko, but I think sellout is a dated term now that everyone is too poor not to sellout. Does Shoals have health insurance now?
I love the adds anyway and I hope another shoe company (besides fila?) finally surpasses Nike in aesthetics...those D-Roses and Dwights a fucking good looking.
so time for my annual expression of puzzlement: when the NBA playoffs become unbelievably good, why is nobody here stating that simple fact in full caps or at least commenting or engaging? I mean, could somebody at least throw up some text written from the pov of Kobe's jockstrap or something?
[not trying to write your blog for you etc]
catcha: psycou
Man I knew that ad was FD before I knew it was FD. Nice work getting Charlie 2na on the voice track, too, whether or not that was your doing.
congrats, congrats, congrats...slow slap.
chauncey devega
Thanks a lot for your information.That's a great idea and interesting post
Classifieds Ads
Adidas Yeezy Boost hot sale online, yours best choice.
Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Low Kanye West Black White Shoes
Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Low Kanye West Grey White Lover Shoes
Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Low Kanye West Blue
http://www.sportshoestyle.com
Post a Comment
<< Home