Friday 10 October 2008

Great Sharapova video from Nike

When it comes to blogging I try to stick to two rules:

1) don't drone on too much about my own tennis matches.

2) don't pinch things from other people's blogs.

I broke the first rule earlier in the week when talking about last Sunday's match and now I'm shamelessly flouting the second by lifting this video from Gototennis, which regular readers will know is one of my favourite blogs.

It's the new Maria Sharapova Be Your Own Fan video from Nike which beautifully charts her journey from a childhood in Siberia to becoming a three time grand slam winner.

It's one of a series of animated ads from Nike aimed at inspiring young women in Europe. This from the Guardian tells you a bit more:

Nike's ad highlights the criticism and negativity that Sharapova had to overcome – such as she was "Just another pretty face" – in becoming a global sports star. It ends with a call for women to "Be strong like Maria".

The other ads feature 400m runner Sanders, Swiss triathlete Nicola Spirig, Sicilian triple jumper Simona La Mantia and French martial arts expert Delphine Delsalle.

"Their stories, like the young women themselves, are as charming as they are impressive and inspiring," said Betsy Decker, associate creative director at W&K Amsterdam.

W&K chose to show the athletes in animated clips – as opposed to more typical slick live action shots of the women – because it was felt that the approach "humanised" them more.

"By humanising these young athletes… we hope to show girls of all ages and fitness levels how sport strengthens self-belief," added Decker.


And it really is lovely, as well as being strangely reminiscent of A-ha's take on me video...

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