Nike Ad Says, Fast Is The New Strong. The Tortoise Never Wins.

Nike’s sports commercials are always explosive and high-octane and leave fans panting for more. Nike’s football ad, ‘Fast is Faster,’ the newest to hit the air, is also packed with high-energy and intensity, vehemently expounding its premise that strong is no longer stronger and that speed has taken its place and now ‘fast is the new strong.’

Ever since Nike made the declaration that they would be making the NFL’s uniforms for the new season, they have become synonymous with the national football league.

Nike left no stone unturned to ensure that the ad was nothing but the best. They roped in legendary music video director Mark Romanek, who has other Nike commercials to his credit, as also Johnny Cash’s ‘Hurt’ video, to oversee the overall crafting and designing of the ad and Kirk Baxter, two-time academy award winner for editing. They also got NFL superstars, Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals), Marshawn Lynch (Seattle Seahawks), LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia Eagles), Troy Polamalu (Pittsburgh Steelers), Darrelle Revis (New York Jets) and Alex Smith (San Francisco 49ers), to provide the star power, to catch the eyeballs.

The ad is set in a space-age stadium tunnel, where in small forceful scenarios, it shows how speed will beat strength every time there‘s a contest between them. In the visuals Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers confronts a wrecking ball, whilst Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals is depicted throwing a piece of turf on the ground, Calvin Johnson becomes a human torch, all along fans on percussion instruments drum their way through the ad. The visuals are pacy, racy and pulsating and the background music that reaches a crescendo as the visual races to its climax adds to the excitement and enhances its overall effect.

A narrator’s voice reminds, as if it needed reminding, “This game is not fast. This game is faster. Strong is no longer strong. Fast is the new strong. Lungs are jet engines. End zones are scorched. The pocket is collapsing faster. The field just got shorter. The slow lose their lunch. The tortoise never wins. And if you’re not faster, someone will let you know.”

In a statement the company stated, “Nike’s football heritage is built on the concept of speed. More than 40 years ago, Nike founder Bill Bowerman set out on a relentless quest to help athletes get faster. From the first football cleat to the new NFL Nike Elite 51 uniforms, Nike continues to blend cutting edge technology with over four decades of knowledge, craft and insight to help athletes gain speed.”

A cute vignette of a hare and a tortoise at the starting line of a race, reminds us of the old fable, but as the ad cautions, we are living in changed times, these days ‘the tortoise never wins.’ The much anticipated uniform change by the league’s new outfitter, could not have made a better or a more stunning debut.