Kendall Jenner Is a Sci-Fi Boticelli's Venus in Latest Adidas 'My Way' Ad

James Harden Also Appears Alongside Rappers Playboy Carti, 21 Savage and Young Thug

Published On
Aug 10, 2017

Editor's Pick

Kendall Jenner heads a fresh crew of celebrities appearing in a new spot from Adidas, a third "chapter" in its "Original Is Never Finished" campaign by Johannes Leonardo.

The film is a rework of its previous spot featuring Frank Sinatra's "My Way," but features new celebrities and new scenes: Jenner (whose last big ad appearance, for Pepsi, ended in disaster), appears as Boticelli's Venus, enclosed in a sci-fi pod, which according to the brand is "redefining the notion of birth and rebirth." The model announced her collaboration with Adidas back in May, following in the footsteps of her brother-in-law Kanye West.

NBA star Harden reworks the "mirrors" scene from the first film, with a choregraphed dribbling sequence, while rappers Playboi Carti, 21 Savage and Young Thug are pictured in a formation also referenced from the first film. There's also a desert driving sequence reminiscent of "Mad Max," surreally involving a blow-up Statue of Liberty, and finally all the celebrities are pictured in sequence assuming the pose of Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man."

Like the two previous Originals spots, the ad was directed by Terence Neale through RSA Films. Although similar in some ways to the previous "My Way" spot, it feels fresh, and if anything, has a slightly more gritty, aggressive vibe than before.

Adidas says the ad is all about proposing "a new definition of original; it's not just about where ideas come from, it's where they are taken to."

"When we released Originals Is Never Finished for the first time we challenged ourselves to redefine what it means to be original," says Alegra O'Hare, VP of Global Communications adidas Originals & Core in a statement. "With the release of chapter three we are putting our words into practice and reinventing our own work. For us to inspire our creative community, we as a brand must to live up to the challenge, and with Originals Is Never Finished we do just that."

"Re-creating one's own work, in a world that constantly strives for newness is a courageous statement," adds Ferdinando Verderi, founding partner and creative director of Johannes Leonardo. "With this film, Originals aims to inspire in a new generation of creators the freedom to not only look at history as a canvas, but to see their own past ideas as a starting point for future ones. "

Credits

Date
Aug 10, 2017
Brand :
Adidas
Client :
Adidas
Agency :
Johannes Leonardo
Global Vice President, Brand Communications :
Alegra O'Hare
Global Director, Communications and Brand Marketing :
Jenny Pham
Senior Manager of Communications :
Edi Borrelli
Senior Director Global Brand Marketing Operations and Creative Shoot Production :
John van Tuyll
Shoot and Production Manager :
Justin Townsend
Chief Creative Officer :
Jan Jacobs
Chief Creative Officer :
Leo Premutico
Creative Director :
Ferdinando Verderi
Partner :
Ferdinando Verderi
Creative Director :
Wesley Phelan
Creative Director :
Matthew Edwards
Copywriter :
Jeph Burton
Art Director :
Hunter Hampton
Head of Integrated Production :
Dana May
Executive Producer :
Maria Perez
Print Producer :
Adam Gong
Film Associate Producer :
Alexandra Olivo
Group Account Director :
Sam McCallum
Account Director :
Dominique Dalton
Account Supervisor :
Gulru Soylu
Account Supervisor :
Kat Pryor
Account Executive :
Adriana Mariella
Head of Strategy :
Mark Aronson
Strategist :
Miné Cakmak
Business Affairs Director :
Marta Stajek
Senior Business Manager :
Ann Marie Turbitt
Film Production Company :
RSA Films
Director :
Terence Neale
Director, Photography :
Alexis Zabe
Stylist :
Richard De Jager
Stylist :
Gabby De Gersigny
Executive Producer :
Jules Daly
Executive Producer :
Paul Kawasaki
Producer :
Julie Sawyer
Cape Town Production Company :
Egg Films
Executive Producer :
Colin Howard
Producer :
Rozanne Rocha-Gray
Editorial :
Exile
Editor :
Robert Lopuski
Editor :
Christopher Fetsch
Executive Producer :
Sasha Hirschfeld
Senior Producer :
Vietan Nguyen
Senior Producer :
Evyn Bruce
Visual Effects :
Blacksmith
Visual Effects Supervisor :
Iwan Zwarts
2D Lead Artist :
Iwan Zwarts
Visual Effects Supervisor :
Adrian Hurley
2D Artist :
Jacob Slutsky
2D Artist :
Caio Sorrentino
2D Artist :
Jay Lee
3D Lead Artist :
Tom Bussell
3D Artist :
Tuna Unalan
3D Artist :
Michael Dunkley
Rotoscoping :
Trace VFX
Tracking :
QL Beans
Executive Producer :
Charlotte Arnold
Producer :
Megan Sweet
Producer :
Alexa Mauro
Color :
Company 3
Colorist :
Tom Poole
Producer :
Alexandra Lubrano
Illustration :
Not to Scale
Artwork :
Not to Scale
Writer :
Claude Francois
Writer :
Jacques Revaux
Writer :
Gilles Thibaut
Writer :
Paul Anka
Publisher :
BMG
Publisher :
Songs
Master Strategy :
Frank Sinatra
Master Strategy :
Universal Music Enterprise
Music :
Daniel Cross
Music Remix :
Human Worldwide
Music Licensed Track :
My Way
Creative Lead :
Morgan Visconti
Music Director :
Morgan Visconti
Creative Lead :
Michael Jurasits
Sound Design :
Michael Jurasits
Executive Producer :
James Dean Wells
Composer/Arranger :
James Leibow
Composer/Arranger :
Morgan Visconti
Composer/Arranger :
Gareth Williams
Sound Design :
Sonic Union
Sound/Mix :
Sonic Union
Sound Engineer :
Steve Rosen
Sound Design :
Steve Rosen
Executive Producer :
Justine Cortale
Producer :
Patrick Sullivan
Sound Engineer :
Ben Conlon
Sound Engineer :
Erik Schmall
Photographer :
Oliver Hadlee Pearch
Photographer Agent :
Jackie Chachoua
Production :
CLM
Production :
RSA Films
Post Production :
D-Factory
Retouching :
D-Factory
Social Agency :
The 88
Chief Creative Officer :
Harry Bee
Brand Director :
Sean Benz
Head of Production :
Adam Copeland
Senior Producer :
TJ Docena
Senior Account Manager :
Tyler Murphy
Photographer :
Atiba Jefferson
Director, Photography :
Eric Longden
3D Scanning :
Scanable
Social Editor :
Stephen Mlinarcik
Color :
Stephen Mlinarcik
Social Mixing :
Yessian
Sound Design :
Vinyl Mix
Dippin Sauce :
Kenan Ali Atmaca
Social and PR Retouch :
Dippin' Sauce
Social Sound Mixing and Design :
Vinyl Mix
Senior Producer :
Emily Smith
Sound Engineer and Designer :
Weston Fonger

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