Nike vs Adidas - inner city run becomes a computer game, twice.

It might not be as blatant, visually, as the EA sports ad that looked like the giant people in the Nike ad, nor is it based all in execution like the "sorry I'm late" twins, which made me contemplate the difference between Inevitable Creative Outcomes, vs Lazy, vs creative theft... ah, but I digress. It's Badlander time!

Nike has a pretty rad new ad out from w+k in Portland where the entire city turns into a video game, and the runners, much like Sonic The Hedgehog, bop up and down on things and gather points. This feels kinda familiar. Like I've seen that idea before. Oh my god, I have. In 2009. For Adidas! Quel embarrassement! Or as we say in the business...oops.

Adidas Originals Courier 2009

And just yesterday we received Nike "Run your city" which is pretty dang epic, as people run through an entire city as if it were a video game. There are some great special effects in this, but it also feels a little confused as some of the things run on are pixel/game stuff and other things are real items, just set up as if they were in a computer game (wooden pallets).

Nike - run your city

Do I think the Nike ad copied the Adidas ad on purpose? No. Do I think it's a hilarious similarity? Hells, yes. Do I think there might be more examples out there? Yup yup, at least similar. Enough about me, what do you think?