Nike “I would run to you”

Created by Wieden + Kennedy and directed by Ringan Ledwidge, the new spot for the Nike Free Run+ 3 finds a bicoastal couple attempting to deliver on the promise of running across the country for each other. Rather than simply listen to The Proclaimers’ "I Would Walk 500 Miles" along the way, the two lovers serenade each other during their run with a song written by the W+K creative team and downloadable by using the Shazam app.

The spot was shot in five states over 11 days. The campaign will also include a social media element that will challenge runners to do their thing while singing from a special “Nike Free Running Karaoke” mix. See the ad in full below (watch for cameos from Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and skateboarder Theotis Beasley) and watch for an online Nike+ challenge coming soon.

Also check the previous Nike's ad campaign for Nike Running.


It illustrates this gap between runners and nonrunners through a character named Alice, a woman who literally never stops running. Alice's regimen is an inconvenience to everyone—her boyfriend, her friends, her parents, and grandparents. Unable to catch her at any other time (because there is no other time), each of them is forced to visit Alice during her run—huffing and puffing alongside her, pleading for more of her attention, inquiring about her well-being, and generally inspecting this lunatic who just can't seem to get with the program.

Yet from Alice's point of view, it's everyone else who doesn't get it. This is the classic runner's pride—that yes, runners are different, and probably superior. Of course, personal relationships have to suffer for the greater good. The spot, shot in Vancouver, presents this message in a playful, lighthearted way with the comical setup and frolicsome music. The dialogue is also amusing—Alice keeps her replies to her loved ones to the bare minimum, conserving her energy for more important matters. And there are some funny companion videos featuring mockumentary interviews with the aggrieved friends and family.

But nestled in the whimsy is a core truth about running, which itself is wrapped, at the end, in a product need. You can't "Never stop running," as the onscreen tagline suggests, if you don't have right shoes. And those would be Nike's LunarGlide+ 3 Shields, spotlighted at the end of the commercial—a new breed of sneaker for a different breed of human.

 I love to see Nike's partnership with the advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy and I can't wait to see their ads for the upcoming Olympics and UEFA Euro 2012.