http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsXRj89cWa0

A mentor shared this with me today.  I’ve always liked this.  This is one of Nike’s Greatness ads from a couple of years ago.

It’s one minute and just one shot but very powerful.  It did stir up some controversy but I don’t buy into that.  I think it is genuine and honest.  I think it is a good piece of filmmaking and storytelling.

Why is it so good?  A few things stick out to me.

It raises questions right away.  You wonder what is this?  You wonder who is that running?  Why are they talking about greatness?

So we get hooked.  We want to find out about this jogger.  We want know more.

Another thing that is great about this is the accessibility of it all.  Meaning we can relate to this story.  Most of us either struggle with our weight or our health.  We know how tough it is to get out there, exercise, and stay healthy.  Here is a kid that represents our struggles but he is doing it.  He is doing the difficult thing.  We cheer him on because we see ourselves in him.  We want to have his strength and courage to do the hard thing.  If you read the comments on the Youtube page, people are inspired by him to get out and run 2 years later.

Plus, the direction, editing, and cinematography all play into telling the story better.  It is a simple dolly shot that frames the road and the jogger perfectly.  It shows us what we need to see when we need to see it.  It compels us to keep watching.

Then they tag it at the end with the logo and slogan.  Whether or not it gets you to buy their stuff is another issue.  We’ll save that for another blog post.  Let me know what you think.