Adidas’ ‘The Original Impossible’ brought a fresh take to a classic platform

Adidas launched its “Impossible Is Nothing” slogan in 2004, and has executed against it in hundreds of ways worldwide since then. But Opinionated’s 2023 spot “The Original Impossible” found a totally fresh way into the idea. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here The spot, which broke on Super Bowl weekend on Adidas’ social channels (not on the game itself), mostly showed found footage of kids whose fine motor skills are not exactly developed—they’re “the original impossible” as they struggle to get their bodies in sync. The spot was a tribute to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had preternatural ability as a youngster—he could have gone pro in basketball, football or baseball. The agency wondered if there were ever a time when he couldn’t do the impossible—thus, the focus on the kids. The amusing footage, combined with a wry voiceover, made for one of the year’s most entertaining spots—and it’s now been honored at Film/TV/Video of the Year at Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Awards. “It looked at ‘original’ in a different way,” said one Creativity Awards juror. “Usually, ‘original’ is about street culture or skate culture, surf culture or hip-hop culture. For them to flip it and say we are all originals—originally you couldn’t do this or that—it was a beautiful way to reintroduce the idea and have a wider aperture of it, which was super dope.” “It was also a fresh visual perspective on bringing each of these different sports to life,” said another juror. “Using a child failing at each of those things is a really creative way to come at it that feels different for the category.” “With ‘Impossible Is Nothing,’ we had some iconic work, and then it was quiet for a long time,” added a third juror. “‘The Original Impossible’ is such a fresh idea, and then the craft just elevates it. The VO is so well cast.” See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here

Adidas’ ‘The Original Impossible’ brought a fresh take to a classic platform

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