Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Obsessed
ok I doubt I am the only one here who is crazy obsessed with the new LeBron Witness commercial. I mean it paints the picture of present day Northeast Ohio, shows some of the city's pride (yes, I am talking about a sandwich), and shows how much we believe in this kid from Akron. Folks..he is our future. I love C.C. and all, but come on. He is it..he is the Chosen One and we are all Witnesses.
So about this insanely pimp commercial..let's break this bad boy down frame by frame cause I am sure most people in the world have no freakin idea what any of that stuff meant. I mean it's seriously an inside commercial. Without further a due I will do my best to identify each frame..
1st Frame - drumroll begins as we roll down some of the rougher streets of downtown Akron. I have actually visited the exact location of LeBron's birth and it is a nasty, awful area. Notice it's being shot from a car..now I am not sure, but by the looks of the windshield wiper it seems to be shot from LeBron's old Hummer from his St. V days.
2nd Frame - the smoke stacks. ahh..anyone from Northeast Ohio is very familiar with these bad boys. These look to be around the downtown Akron area near the Goodyear factory. (ok I completely made that up)
3rd Frame - oh yea baby..77N. the road from Akron to downtown CLE. LeBron lives in Akron and takes this road up to the Q for every single game. Pride baby.. Also note the first few scenes were in Akron and now we have moved towards CLE.
4th Frame - looks to be a nasty, run down YMCA as well as convenient stores in CLE
5th Frame - a quick glimpse looking up into the Columbus Road bridge with a view of downtown CLE
6th Frame - a shot of some basketball courts. Now it would seem this would be in CLE given how we moved from the AK to CLE, but LeBron was well known in many of the Akron bball courts in which my buddies and I also played on. Could be Croghan Park, could be St. V, could be anything. But we all know LeBron has helped out Akron by building more bball courts so I am glad this shot got in there.
7th Frame - ahh..home. The Q. Good work Danny G.
8th Frame - Bron jogging down the court in the wine jersey
9th Frame - Sportsman's Restaurant which is right near the Justice Center downtown. There's a counter area if you're eating alone and tables and a back dining area if you're there with friends or coworkers. Has a pimp vintage Sportsmans sign out front.
10th Frame - the famous quadruple double corned beef sandwich from Sportsman's. The price is only $9.23 as the Playoff special. Notice Go Cavs written in the bottom right
11th Frame - LeBron James bobblehead in blue jersey. Most likely the giveaway from the Q, but could be from Giant Eagle.
12th Frame - bunch of kids coloring at a school. notice Bron on the tube in the background
13th Frame - one of the fantastic drawings titled 'Slam Dunk' of LeKing
14th Frame - slam dunk in the blue jersey vs the Lakers
15th Frame - girl getting #23 painted on her cheek most likely in Tower City Mall which connects to the Q. Notice the kid behind her with Cavs written on the forehead..he is loving life.
16th Frame - Bron joggin again..in the white jersey (red, blue, white..good work Nike)
17th Frame - after the shady white van passes, there is a shot of a guy on a chopper next to one of those cheap signs which beautifully reads 'We are all Witnesses.' This is followed by another van passing down Carnegie Ave in downtown CLE.
18th Frame - close up of the cheap sign with pimp message
19th Frame - not sure of the building (help anyone?) but draped out of one of the windows is a bedsheet or cloth which reads 'I am a Witness' Just clarifying things here..these are not fabricated scenes by Nike..this is all real. There are many many signs in CLE supporting our King. Pride..
20th Frame - close up of the pride on a bedsheet
21st Frame - LeBron side-fives someone from his knees vs the Pistons (in a blue jersey)
22nd Frame - the beginnings of a beautiful shirt (and marketing campaign). The Witness T is being screened in wine and gold. ooh..yea
23rd Frame - the phrase of the hour on possibly a sign at the airport or near the arena.
24th Frame - Witness t-shirt complete and getting ready to be shipped to the Q for game 1 of the Playoffs
25th Frame - Man on a bball court holding a ball with the tshirt on. LeAwesome
26th Frame - hard ass in the auto body shop also sportin the tee
27th Frame - more #23's being painted on little kids faces
28thFrame - insane dunk over the Lakers in the blue jersey...bron screams as this one goes down
29th Frame - another driving dunk over half the Bulls squad at the Q in a white jersey
30th Frame - full extension leg kick dunk vs the Spurs in a white jersey
31st Frame - the domination scream vs the Heat..man is this guy awesome
32nd Frame - the music stops abruptly as the 10 story, 212 foot wide billboard of LeBron appears. This is on the Landmark building in downtown CLE. Also note there is a slight screech of a car/train at the very end.
As the commercial builds & builds and the goose bumps set in, all of a sudden the music just stops. You are left to stare into the greatness of this massive billboard and realize how much this city & team relies on the AK Assassin. I don't care where you are from, this is an amazing commercial and congrats Nike. You know what you have in LeBron and you are playing it perfectly.
Long live LeKing...
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2 comments:
I am almost certain that the basketball courts in the Witness commercial are at the Zone Recreation Center on W. 65th and Lorain.
Nice job, but a few quick comments -- as a long-time Akroninte.....
None of the shots are from Akron - every one of those is a Cleveland-area site, and I recognize all of them. The opening screen shot is on East 55th in Cleveland,
and the smokestacks are from the old LTV steel mill in Cleveland, now being run by a consortium headquartered in Richfield. The vehicle is not a Hummer of any sort - the wipers sweep from the wrong side. It's likely just the camera crew's ubiquitous van (check out the wiper arms). The I-77 northbound exit is in Cleveland, nearing downtown - the East 55th exit heads off toward the near east side of town (a rough district, to say the least) that takes one in the direction of University Circle, the Cleveland Clinic, and other places in Cleveland, but can also be used as an alternative exit to take a parallel course to the Q along I-77 (and to Jacobs Field, too, for a Tribe game). The basketball court is in Cleveland, too, off Euclid Avenue.
Nice dunks in this Nike ad, but I have the best-ever LeBron dunk on video, if you'd like it - occurred duing his senior year in a game played at The University of Akron's Rhodes Arena, where the St. VM team had to play its home games that season (the St. V-M gym is a circa 1972 relic, and only seats around 1,000 - far too few to meet the demand for tickets during the LeBron years there). In that game, St. V-M's signature full-court pressure forced a turnover, and LeBron was poised for the pass, which he took to the hoop by leaping from the foil line a la MJ, then passed it under his leg in mid-flight, slamming it home with his left hand, as a stunned member of the other team looks on - the crowd went silent during the dunk, then broke out in a thunderous, raucous standing ovation afterward. It was something to behold.....GO CAVS!!!!
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