Ogilvy Shanghai and The Sweet Shop make ‘Love’ for 361 and the Guang Zhou 2010 Asian Games
Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai is behind the ‘Love’ campaign to promote 361 sportswear in conjunction with the Guang Zhou 2010 Asian Games in China. For director Ben Quinn from The Sweet Shop it was love at first sight of these scripts, “The idea of equating feelings associated with sport with those of love is really different and exciting… but it did strike me that whilst love is beautiful, it also hurts like hell. So to viscerally connect with the audience, we’d have to explore the full gamut of feelings.” His vision to push their ideas further was brave but even early on, it was clear to O&M that the payoff would be totally arresting.
Quinn’s thinking secured him the job as Executive Creative Director, Kevin Lee explains: “He brought a fresh set of eyes and he’s not shy about expressing himself. Also we were attracted to his ability to capture emotions and make everything grand in scale.”
The spots are with gut-wrenching, passionate moments that push the limits both visually and emotionally. Quinn said he aimed high from the outset and went to great lengths to find moments of human intensity at both ends of the scale that we don’t often see in advertising.
“The agency totally supported the idea that we needed to show hardship too, like a kid getting punched in the face and I actually filmed a runner vomiting, but that didn’t quite make the cut. The athletes knew exactly what I meant…their smiles said it all,” said Quinn.
Shot in China, Quinn found the experience both interesting and amazing, “China is great. Unusual but great, with the work ethic is second to none. They seemed aghast that I finished shooting after only 14 hours!”
“The resulting highly evocative spots are rich in drama and have an epic quality that are hard to look away from. It could so easily have gone either way given that at times tough shooting conditions and the grueling performances that I demanded. But thankfully all parties involved are very pleased.”
Ben Quinn first made his mark as a director in 2008 after his spot for Nelson Mandela’s ‘The Elders’ humanitarian project broke. On first screening, the evocative ode to the human spirit garnered a standing ovation from guests including Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter. He joined The Sweet Shop in mid 2009.
3 Comments
Nice spot. Not amazing. But shot and written well.
yes shot very well. good for china market
Wannabe Nike brand 25 years behind the play makes wannabe Nike ad 25 years behind the play.
The ‘do I need to write my name’ line just begs unfavorable comparison with ‘write the future’. Still, we all know China is tough.