At the risk of appearing to be a fraud at my job (I hope the boss does not see this blog), I say that I really do not get this new Adidas campaign, at least the promotional line.

The first time I came across it online, I clicked on the ad and was carried to a video showing some boys skate boarding up and down some ramp or other…for about five minutes…and there was no mention of Adidas. There was no dialogue. There was no narrator. Just the sound of the skateboard against the asphalt and the ambient street noises.

I later saw the TV spot which encapsulates all the different activities that the Adidas brand is used at and then I got it…I think.

Reflecting more on it, I realise that I have always had a “thing” with language, since primary school. You know that sign at the gas station, “No smoking. No naked flames. When filling switch off engine”. For years I wondered what was the “Switch off Engine” until it dawned on me that the sign was missing a comma and oh, what a difference that comma made – “When filling, switch off engine”.

So maybe my issue, if you want to call it an issue, is that I am too traditional and the funkiness of the language is causing me to not properly get the angle they are coming from. I therefore bravely send out an S.O.S. for help. Someone please explain this Adidas campaign line for me so that my not-so-contemporary mind will get it.

2 Comments
  • Dennis Ramdeen

    18 June, 2011, 5:06 am

    Heart over head. Inclusion over ego. United by passion, we go all in. This is the slogan for adidas‘ new campaign that launched today, featuring a three spots connecting the worlds of sports, style, fashion and music. Starring Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, B.o.B., Katy Perry, Lionel Messi, David Beckham
    and many more, the campaign captures the passion these guys put into
    their game, and takes a look into the visceral nature of raw passion.

    Source:  http://dimemag.com/2011/03/new-commercial-adidas-is-all-in/

    Eric, I suspect that it’s a translation issue….it probably was originally developed and written NOT in English..so whatever it meant in French or German may have worked better than the English translation…I too did not get the “Adidas all in”…..the other explanation Eric is we are old fogies and we just don’t use the same language as their much younger target…so that’s why we are not “all in”, dr