Wieden & Kennedy New York and Sprite deliver a crisp play on endorsements and authenticity -- celebrity endorser LeBron James refuses to tell viewers to drink Sprite, even while his friends urge him to earn his pay and the line flashes on the screen anyway -- is good fun for Super Bowl Sunday. Too bad it wasn't not new for the game. (Neither was Coca-Cola Co.'s other Super Bowl ad in the game for 2017, "Love Story," or the spots from King's Hawaiian ("False Cabinet"), Google ("Coming Home") and Fiji Water ("Nature's Gift."))
Citrusy clear sodas hadn't been in the big game for a while (see 7Up's 2004 "Slam Dunk," 2000 "Make 7Up Yours" and spots in 1992, 1993 and 1994.) As for James, he made his Super Bowl debut in 2005 for Bubblicious ("Spotlight"), but had no lines so didn't lay on the hard sell then either.
Director: Neal Brennan, whose credits include co-creator of Comedy Central's "Chapelle's Show."
Executive creative director: Karl Lieberman. Creative directors: Caleb Jensen, Jimm Lasser. Copywriter: Brock Kirby. Art directors/copywriters: Chris Mendez, Amy Wheeler. Interactive/social strategy: Chris Mendez, Amy Wheeler. Producer: Kristen Johnson. Account team: Jordan Muse, Jacque Parrish. Brand strategist: Brandon Thornton. Social strategist: Jessica Breslin. Assistant producer: Jordan Leinen, Alexey Novikov. Art producer: Pietro Clemente. Interactive producer: Jen Vladimirsky. Digital producer: Tara Kennedy. Business affairs managers: Carolina Hernandez, Patrick O'Donoghue. Media planning: Branden Bouvia, Karlo Cordova. Traffic manager: Sonia Bisono.
BRAND: Sprite
YEAR: 2017
AGENCY: Wieden & Kennedy
SUPERBOWL: LI
QUARTER AIRED: Q4