Weiden + Kennedy

Weiden + Kennedy is a very prestigious, large, independent advertising agency headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Weiden + Kennedy is very well known for the extensive work that they have done and currently do for Nike. They have also done some very creative work for Coca-Cola. I have two particular favorite advertisements that Weiden + Kennedy has done (that we have viewed in Advertising Literacy).

The first piece of work was done for Nike, and the ad is titled "Courage." This television spot begins with an image of a basketball player throwing the ball up in the air and the words "Everything you need is already inside" appearing on the screen. For the duration of the spot, there are various images and footage of events, which all involve some form of courage. Playing in the background is a segment of music from the song "All These Things That I've Done" by The Killers. In this segment of music the line repeated is "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier." I feel that this ad instills a powerful virtue in all of the viewers as well as sending a message of basically anyone can wear Nike. The ad ends with the famous phrase "Just Do It" appearing on the screen. After watching this ad, I felt that I should go out and do something. I feel that others would have this similar feeling after viewing the spot. Since Nike already has an established position in the marketplace, their ads are more just to reinforce or make one remember their brand, because the majority of consumers are educated on the product and are aware of the variety of sportswear as well as equipment that the Nike brand offers.

I was also very impressed with a particular ad campaign that Weiden + Kennedy did for Coca Cola. We watched one of these ads in class and another one from the same campaign was on our first exam in Advertising Literacy. The one that we watched in class is titled "Happiness Factory." In this spot, the viewer sees just what "happens" when they put money into a vending machine. The spot that we saw on our exam was titled "Heist," and in this spot, bugs steal a sleeping man's coke, and replace it by concocting a look-alike "bottle" out of lady bug's bodies. I found these spots very interesting, intriguing, and of course creative.

Nike Courage

Coca Cola "Happiness Factory"

Coca Cola "Heist"