I’m not a big sneaker fan. I mean, I like to dress casually, but I don’t collect sneakers or anything. I rarely own more than 3 pair at a time. Also, when I do wear them, I’m not the most brand loyal person. I guess I’ve bought more Adidas than anything else. My point is that sneaker ads have never really spoken to me. I tend to buy what I want and like. I have never looked at a TV or print ad and made a purchase based on a creative direction. Mostly because contemporary creative direction is sorta boring. For example, I hate half-ass over-styled animation. It’s on that “I have 9 pages of iPhone apps” level of feeling yourself that ends up leaving you and yourbrand looking like the rich kid everybody only tolerates because you have the biggest house for parties. (No offense to ESurance’s agency, but your animation style PLUS Star Trek? Is only making me hold on to my current insurance company tighter!) I hate ads that look like they’re “trying to relate to the young people” So imagine my surprise to discover this ad for Nike’s nike iD (custom shoes) from Studio 4 degrees C (via KissMyBlackAds). THIS is the kind of stuff I’m looking for. NOW you can tell it’s an 80s revival. When creatives are all talking about spots like these:

Now, the shop that did this ad is an actual anime studio, so it’s sorta not fair to expect this kind of work from a regular agency, but then again…why not? These kinds of ads are really expensive but they’re great, and it should be said that they could be very effective! I still remember the Levi’s ad with the anime styled characters from when I was a kid.

That may seem laughable now, but in 1983, that was bad ass.

I think that as budgets get tighter,marketing gets smarter and more competitive. It would be nice to get back into a climate where shops were like crews and you really have to be the best to survive.