The living McEnroe of 2022 played against five virtual versions of McEnroe from the past.
John McEnroe was a notoriously tempestuous tennis player back in his championship days. But he was all smiles as he showed up in Los Angeles last April to take part in “McEnroe vs. McEnroe,” a fascinating tech experiment from Michelob Ultra and FCB New York.
Artificial intelligence, Unreal MetaHuman technology and machine learning were combined to create five virtual versions of McEnroe from different eras of his storied past.
Carefully orchestrated ball launchers and robotic arms simulated young McEnroe’s ball strokes, allowing the real McEnroe to play a real match against his virtual selves, with the avatars moving around a specially designed court and returning the ball.
“There were so many technology firsts with this campaign, but the real innovation was the actual integration of these new technology innovations to produce that experience,” one Creativity Awards juror said. “It sort of blew my mind.”
The whole thing was broadcast as an hour-long special on ESPN. The brand says the project raised critical relevance metrics (brand buzz +25%) and helped lift sales by 15% year over year.
