180 LAUNCH 2007 INTERNATIONAL ADIDAS CAMPAIGN

The world's most inspiring athletes tell their ‘Impossible’ stories using their own hand drawn illustrations and paintings in a new global multi-disciplinary campaign from adidas via agency 180 Amsterdam.
“We are all immensely proud of the campaign. I think the entire team have managed to encapsulate an honesty and truth that isn’t normally found in the business. Wouldn’t it be amazing if all advertising could be this inspiring and meaningful?” said Aussie expat Richard Bullock, Executive Creative Director, 180 Amsterdam.
More than 30 inspirational stories are told using the athletes’ own personal visual style. Each athlete chose a defining moment in their life and set about the task of creating the images and words which would later be combined to create the adidas ‘Impossible is Nothing’ 07 brand campaign.
The unique content was created by inviting the athletes to spend time in a purpose built art studio which allowed the athlete to choose how and with what materials they would like to express their story. This created a wealth of material which was then used to create commercial films, posters, books, documentaries, exhibitions and even clothing designs.
Highlights from the new campaign include David Beckham telling how he braved death threats from fans after the World Cup in 1998. All Blacks rugby legend Jonah Lomu talks about the challenges he faced when told of the possibility of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. And US basketball star Gilbert Arenas explains the reason he wears the number 0 on his shirt.
“The athletes were incredibly open and honest. It seemed that by doing something they wouldn’t normally do, the barriers came down. As a result, the work is wonderfully naïve. And some of it is equally quite beautiful. Most of them even surprised themselves," said Sean Thompson - Creative Director/Director, 180 Amsterdam.
180 worked closely with Passion Pictures on the project and the 180 creative directors Dean Maryon and Sean Thompson shared the role as directors. The Pulitzer Prize winning photographer David Turnley of Orchard by Getty Images used his photojournalistic style to create the strong photographic component to the campaign.