i cover the whole spectrum call me roy b. giv

the adicolors campaign has the focus of adidas activewear/sneakers placed on customization and creativity via color. the line is a throwback to/relaunch of the adicolor line that dropped in 1983. these kicks were white on white but came with a package of markers in (yellow,black,pink,green,red and blue) to allow you to customize em. the original adicolors inspired a slew of creativity amongst graffiti writers/artist and the generally stylish of the day. In '83 sneaker culture in the mainstream was still in it's infancy. Savy sneaker connoisseurs could trek to tucked away mom and pops to find kicks in various colors, while others would customize their kicks with spray paint or markers to get unique colors, but the masses were still relatively limited to primary colors. So to allow buyers to have whatever they wanted on their sneakers was a really BIG move.

adidas has expanded on that spirit of creativity in their revived campaign in a couple different ways. for their mass produced sneakers they've collaborated with a bunch of different artist from various fields. from the "Mr. Happy" Yellow kicks using a character created by british illustrator Roger Hargreaves to the Tron inspired Black sneakers, to the Green hightops designed by fashion designer Emilio Pucci alot of different creative fields are covered.

for their video presence adidas handed over each color to a different director/illustrator/animator/creative agency to create ads for. instead of going the more traditional route of a tv spot for what could be considered a rather niche market (designer sneaker buyers and streetwear connoisseurs), adidas instead has their collaborators come up with a 3-4 minute non sequitor video spot. these videos are the definition of what makes good viral marketing. they stand on their own as exceptional pieces of art, some focusing on humor others on being obtuse and odd, while some are merely sleek and sexy too the level of any hollywood production. no matter what their focus they all present the viewer with the same "what the fuck?" cool appeal. that appeal that inspires the early adopter, zero patient viewer to pass it on to a couple of friends or blog about it.

it would appear in the spirit of creativity adidas gave their collaborators little in the way of briefing or restrictions and let them each come up with pretty unique interpretations of their various colors.






YELLOW

Neill Blomkamp covers yellow with a faux trailer in the form of an action sci-fi movie. he interprets each color as a different make of cyborg, with the yellow model having escaped from the research facility and agents attempting to track it down. the trailer evokes Bladerunner with its treatment and reverence of cyborgs but feels as though it was directed by a post "Fight Club" pre "Panic Room" David Fincher or possibly a more subdued "Closer" era Mark Romanek. If this was an actual movie id be VERY interested in seeing it based upon this trailer. It carries a seriousness we don't really see in action movies alot but still has the kick assness of ROBOTS and KUNG FU. game over.





RED
for the color Red adidas teamed up with the least known of the Coppola clan, Roman Coppola. Roman creates "A Brief History Of Red" which uses simple cut and paste animation in the style of South Park to illustrate a absurd Monty Python esque journey through the story of the color red. the Rock Lobster was a particularly nice touch.




GREEN
the happy corp serves up a very Chris Cunningham esque short film for green featuring a group of elderly people in a drab, post nuclear winter future* celebrating a green holiday by getting blasted by paintballs. the slow motion combined with the quasi sexual narration and splattering of paint creates a uneasy feel throughout the whole work. but without ever getting smutty. well played happy corp, well played.

the links to the remaining four movies are below, each one a uniquely odd take on their given color. but all are captivating and well crafted. the RGBURL's are a nice touch as well.




BLACK





WHITE





BLUE





PINK

* there are really few things more badass than the combniation of words "post nuclear winter future". dave mustaine prolly has that exact phrase tattooed on his megadeth.