Oregon makes a splashy Big Ten debut with a huge inflatable duck in Indiana river

Everyone loves a huge inflatable duck, usually of the yellow variety. But visitors to the Big Ten Media Days Conference in Indianapolis this week saw a more specific waterfowl visitor floating in the White River—an enormous version of the Oregon Duck, celebrating the University of Oregon’s move this year to the Big Ten conference. Wieden+Kennedy Portland devised the 65-foot-tall attraction, which one Ducks fan in social media described as “the biggest thing to hit the Midwest since the 3 compartment crockpot.” Added another: “We do know how to make an entrance.” Jacobi Mehringer & Andrew Chhour, senior creatives on the project at W+K, joked to Ad Age that the biggest challenge the agency team faced was “sourcing a 65-foot hand pump.” The Oregon Duck has made a splash in advertising before, notably starring in one of the most quietly amusing “This Is SportsCenter” commercials ever made—also from W+K. More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

Oregon makes a splashy Big Ten debut with a huge inflatable duck in Indiana river

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