Ogilvy New York’s ‘The Refugee Nation’ for Amnesty International – whereby a team of refugees was entered for the 2016 Olympics – is one of our pundits’ Top Tips for Cannes, undeniably a big idea.
In terms of athletics (although not politics of course) Nike’s quest for someone to run a two-hour marathon is equally bold. The world record for the 26 mile 385 yards race (the distance from the ancient site of the battle of Marathon between the Greeks and the Persians to Athens) is 2:02:57. So two minutes is a long way away, the equivalent of running 26 miles at 4:34 per mile and then some.
Will Nike’s hand-picked runners succeed?
First time round they didn’t (maybe to Nike’s relief) although Eliud Kipchoge managed 2:00:25, pretty close (doesn’t count as a world record as it’s not in competition).
But it’s a great idea and agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland, returning to its sweaty Nike roots, is more than capable of doing justice to it.
MAA creative scale:8 (so far).
