Not a lot of companies do advertising at the same level as Nike. That's more of a compliment to their ad agency Wieden and Kennedy who also is ESPN's ad agency. The ad below was debuted during the NFL draft but is now in heavy rotation now football season is under way. It features the likes of LeSean McCoy, Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, Marshawn Lynch, Larry Fitzgerald, Troy Polamalu, Darrelle Revis, AND a certain signal caller to round out the bunch.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dcFHiIb85yY?rel=0
Yes in an ad campaign titled "Fast Is Faster", Nike went with a guy who rushed for 12 yards a game last year and was dangerously close to losing his job in just about every year he's been in the NFL up until now.
If you think I'm being harsh, I'm a Niner fan and have been trumpeting Smith over the last year as he's settled into a nice groove under Harbaugh. But finding consistency in a conservative offense is not really the same star power that a dozen or so other starting QB's would bring to the table. I actually inquired with fellow fans on which Niner they thought was in this commercial based on the others who were in it. Smith was never in the top ten guesses and almost every time he was the 3rd Smith guessed after Justin and Aldon.In a recent fantasy draft I participated in, Alex Smith went undrafted where 24 other quarterbacks were taken.
You have to wonder what the circumstances led to Smith's addition to this commercial. I tweeted out some snark comment about how he didn't belong and the business manger for one of the other athletes who attend the shoot said he thought the same thing.
Honestly it's a good commercial and Alex Smith is a fine quarterback. It's just very odd to have him blended in with everyone else. What's next, a Nike basketball campaign with LeBron, Durant, Kobe, and JJ Reddick?
