Nike launches "The Chosen" on TV, Facebook (video)

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Nike has just launched a new campaign titled ‘The Chosen’, which adds the new 90 second TV spot three days after it premiered on Facebook. As well as featuring the TV ad premiere during the NBA finals, the effort includes a video contest calling for user-generated content across each of the sports the campaign targets.


The spot, via 72andSunny, shows the athletes performing at night in locations like Whistler, British Columbia; Bali, Indonesia; and NYC. The effort is designed to target the niche sports areas including BMX, skating and snowboarding. On the Facebook side, each individual sports page has been set up to feature the content, i.e. the BMX Facebook Page. “The Chosen” is Nike’s largest effort at moving into action sports and feature athletes like the skateboarder Paul Rodriguez (or P-Rod), the surfer Laura Enever and the snowboarder Danny Kass.

The video contest, which starts with asking for submissions of videos featuring people’s ‘crews’. The crews are challenged to create as much buzz around their entries as possible, using a variety of social media tools. The finalists then face a vote by professionals within Nike and their athletes to determine the winner, who will then win ‘The Chosen’ lifestyle.

The videos will run on the campaign’s Facebook page, and visitors to the page will be able to vote on which video they like best. Some of the athletes, including Rodriguez, will help judge the entries. Winners of the contest will be chosen at the U.S. Open of Surfing, which is held in Huntington Beach, CA and completely owned and sponsored by Nike.

Nike will also release a 3-D version of the TV spot that will be shown on the Fourth of July weekend in movie theaters before films like “Transformers 4.”

According to Kantar Media, Nike spent $108 million in advertising in 2009 and $116 million in 2010.