Nike Breaks Olympics-Themed Ads This Week

nike campaignNike is following up on its global summer Olympics campaign with a pair of new TV ads during the Beijing games. The ads will feature track star Sanya Richards and the USA Softball Team, the latter making its swan song there. Olympics officials in 2005 voted both softball and baseball off the event lineup, starting with the 2012 Olympics in London.

The ads, via Nike's longtime agency, Portland, Ore.-based Wieden + Kennedy, will air in 30- and 60-second versions.

The ad "We Have Softball," which began airing Tuesday night, shows team members and other players around the country. The ad is set to "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." by Donna Fargo, and features the Olympic players Jessica Mendoza, Lauren Lappin, Vicky Galindo, Laura Berg, Andrea Duran and Stacey Nuveman, acting naturally as the text "We have softball, you can have everything else" appears on the screen.

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On Friday, the track-themed ad "A Dream Deferred" will debut. The ad is about how 400-meter runner Sanya Richards dealt with autoimmune disease Behcet's Syndrome in order to pursue track. The ad centers on video of Richards training for the games.

Other Olympic spots from Nike include one featuring the USA Basketball Team and Marvin Gaye's version of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Nike is not the official footwear sponsor of the summer Olympics; Adidas snagged that deal, giving the company access to the Beijing outdoor media market and venues like the Adidas Brand Center in the city. Nike sponsors athletes in some 24 federation sports. The athletes wear a range of sportswear Nike attire.

Adidas will also be official sportswear partner for the London 2012 Olympics, a deal the company calls its biggest ever with a UK sporting event. Adidas says it will be the exclusive supplier of branded and unbranded sports merchandise to all London 2012 venues and stores.

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