You’d think I was a sports nut, what with yesterday’s Yao Ming posting and this clip above. I’m not. But entertain yourself by looking at this 2 ½-minute clip of shorts for Nike. It’s pitch perfect. I saw it on the Chinasportstoday.com website, which also links to a gallery of YouTube videos on Chinese sports. Here’s what that website says about the above clip:
It's hard to name a global brand that has had smarter China marketing practices than Nike. The series of advertising shorts above, first posted on YouTube two years ago, features everyday Chinese who can't help but turn their day-to-day lives into athletic showcases. A flat round cracker in a university cafeteria becomes a discus; a pair of boys use a repairman's bucket as a basketball hoop; a young woman uses judo moves to take down her boyfriend and snatch a bouquet of flowers from him. The commercials have a raw look, like they could have been shot by amateurs. And they will ring true—and funny—to anyone who has spent time in China.
Nike has had its missteps here, including a commercial featuring Lebron James bouncing the ball off of a kung fu master's forehead that is often cited as an example of what not to do when advertising in China. But Nike learned from that mistake, and does plenty of other things right.

Nike did a good job in China. Some Bank officials in Sichuan risked their job to buy Nike using earthquake relief money.
Posted by: jeff | July 01, 2008 at 10:32 AM