Adidas Originals finds its groove with a Frankie Valli song
Posted on Wed Dec 17 2008
It's hard to imagine a hipper scene than the one portrayed in the latest TV ad for the Adidas Originals brand.
The spot, celebrating Adidas's 60th anniversary, shows a rockin' house
party crashed by, among others, Katy Perry, D.M.C. (of Run-D.M.C.),
Russell Simmons, David Beckham and Method Man. Even harder to imagine:
a more unlikely song for everyone to be grooving to. It's Frankie Valli
and the Four Seasons' 1968 hit "Beggin' "—not the original, but a remix
by Parisian producer Pilooski.
Truth be told, it's catchy as hell and fits the commercial's
retro/of-the-minute vibe perfectly. Kristian Manchester, creative
director and partner of Sid Lee, the Montreal agency that created the
ad, said the shop went through thousands of songs before finding this
one. Originally, he says, they were looking for a Motown or Stax/Volt
tune, but "every time you find a great song, someone would ask, 'Was
that in a car ad?' "
Only after committing to the track did Manchester find out it had
been a huge club hit in Europe in the summer of 2007. Still, he's happy
with the choice. "It had the right rhythm and tempo and was a little
nostalgic," he says. "It felt like it was from a lost party."
Fans take note: Adidas plans to offer seven different remixes of "Beggin' " on its Web site.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman
