The best sports ads 2016

This year 2016 has been full of emotions with the Olympic Games in Rio and we wanted to remember it with the best sports videos

Like every end of the year, it is time to take stock of what he has given of himself this year in advertising. 2016 leaves behind the scene of the sport par excellence (the Rio Olympics) and this has been noticed in the volume and quality of the pieces generated. Next, we leave you a selection of the best campaigns. I hope you enjoy it!

1 | THE NORTH FACE - Question Madness

From success to madness there is only one step. Or so says the epic spot of The North Face that celebrates its 50º anniversary. Signed by the agency Sid Lee, the spot explores the thin line that separates success from pure and hard madness, based on the prowess of climbers, climbers and other athletes.

The Spot, called "Question Madness", shows the effort, pain and perhaps dementia that is behind almost all the great sporting successes. "Miles from nowhere" becomes the soundtrack of this piece. With it, the brand aims to invite its target audience to tear down borders and set goals, however crazy they may seem.

"The frontier that separates progress from madness is something that athletes at risk meet every day," explains Stacy Peralta, director of the new global campaign of The North Face.

2 | UNDER ARMOR - Rule yourself (Michael Phelps)

This year, Under Armor returned with its "Rule Yourself" campaign stating that "what you do in the dark is what drives you to the light." If last summer the campaign was starring Steph Curry, Misty Copeland and Tom Brady; this year, in an Olympic context, the main protagonists have been the swimmer Michael Phelps, the United States gymnastics team and the Manchester United player Memphis Depay.

 Special mention deserves the announcement that tells the story of the 22 times Olympic medalist Michael Phelps. The piece is an emotional tribute to the grueling routine that lives every day the best Olympic athlete of all time. It shows the great dedication of the athlete in the pool, in the weight room, and even by the way he sleeps.

The Spot also serves to highlight the resurgence of an athlete who, after his retirement, went through what he called "the hardest stage of his life" and ended with his arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol. "I was in a very dark place. I did not want to be alive, "he confesses. Phelps spent 45 days in a rehabilitation clinic, "the moment in which I felt the most fear in my life" he recalls. The piece shows a completely renovated Phelps, reminding all athletes that medals are won in practice. With the Kills song "The Last Goodbye", the video shows Phelps' path to his fifth and last Olympic Games.

The piece was made by the agency Droga5 and has received international attention with the Grand Prix in Film Craft in the last edition of the Cannes Lions festival and has managed to position itself as one of the spots of the most successful Olympic Games on social networks .

3 | NIKE - Unlimited you

This year, Nike surprised with different deliveries of its campaign Unlimited of Just Do It, which included the videos "Unlimited Will", "Unlimited Courage", "Unlimited You" and "Unlimited Youth", and a series of shorts about athletes. The pieces represent both amateur athletes and elite athletes, who are accustomed to pushing their limits and who had a new opportunity to demonstrate their potential this summer at the Olympics.

Of the different delivery, the video "Unlimited You" is remarkable. By definition, Unlimited is synonymous with inexhaustible, indefinite, immeasurable, infinite ... Therefore, having no limits implies never defining oneself for what happened in the past and permanently redefining and challenging the expectations created. This is precisely what the video tells us, the potential of each one not to define himself and to be permanently struggling to overcome himself.

The announcement was created by Wieden + Kennedy and features cameos from athletes such as Aaron Gordon, English Gardner, Giancarlo Stanton, Kevin Durant, Mo Farah, Neymar Jr., Nyjah Huston, Serena Williams, Su BingTian and Zach Lavine.

4 | Channel 4 - We're The Superhumans  

Channel 4 released this spectacular short for the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016: “We´re The Superhumans”. It is a three-minute film that celebrates not only Paralympic athletes, but people with disabilities around the world. Throughout the piece, we see dancers and musicians, as well as footballers, swimmers and fencers, a climber with one arm, a rally driver who steers cars with his feet, and children with prosthetics playing soccer.

The spot combines scenes of sporting feats and acrobatics with situations of people doing daily tasks - a woman changing the diaper to her son with her feet while another writes notes during a phone call while holding the pen with her toes.

With a confident and challenging tone, the film acknowledges the challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis, both physical challenges and negative attitudes towards disability. Ultimately, the prevailing message is that “We are all Superhumans,” recognizing that not only athletes have had to overcome enormous challenges to be successful.

5 | P&G - Thank You, Mom, Strong

In this Olympic year, P&G moved us again with this piece in which it appreciates the role of mothers in the career of Olympic athletes, following in the wake of Pick Them Back or Kids. “Strong” somehow maintains the essence of the previous ones and adds a new vision of the essential role that mothers play.

The campaign emphasizes the courage that mothers show daily at critical moments in their children's lives. The piece shows the way to the Olympic Games of four mothers and their children, showing difficult situations from the childhood of athletes; and how, thanks to the strength of their mothers, athletes gather the courage to face different circumstances before arriving at the Games.

The spot is a creation of the agency W + K Portland and was directed by Jeff Nichols.

6 | BBC SPORT - Rio 2016 Olympic Games Trailer

Not only consumer brands created their own pieces in the Olympic year. The BBC - the public TV of the United Kingdom that broadcast the Games - presented its own piece with an imaginative tone, turning the typical fauna of Brazil (panthers, crocodiles, anteaters, etc.) into athletes of the different Olympic disciplines. From crocodiles practicing trampoline jumping to gorillas playing volleyball… All this in the privileged natural environment of the Rio de Janeiro country.

The spot was made using hyper-realistic 3D technology under the soundtrack of "Not gonna break me" by British singer Jamie N Commons.

6 | GATORADE - The Boy Who Learned to Fly (Usain Bolt)

Under the claim "The boy who learned to fly" (the boy who learned to fly) the campaign, carried out by TBWA / Chiat / Day LA and Moonbot Studios, reviews the story of overcoming the Olympic athlete, Usain Bolt, world record holder of 100 and 200 smooth meters.

The video starts telling about Bolt's childhood in Jamaica, when he was a carefree young student running around, not letting even his hungry stomach get in the way of beating the most trained athletes in an improvised race.

The story progresses showing him already competing in the youngest categories and highlighting, for example, the anxiety he feels about representing his country. But all that goes into the background when his mother reminds him: "You can always go faster as long as you keep the light on." That's when the athlete we know today emerges, someone who projects carefree joy when in competition.

7 | H&M - For Every Victory

This year, H&M - a Swedish multinational in the fashion sector - entered the sports arena with force, taking advantage of the momentum of the Rio Olympics. The campaign served as a cover letter for its new sportswear collection, developed in collaboration with the Swedish Olympic team.

The spot is narrated by Caitlyn Jenner, an athletics figure who in 2015 completed her sex change process by publicly declaring her status as a woman. Caitlyn tells us a story full of struggle, overcoming and sacrifice, while establishing a parallel with the images we are seeing on the screen. Ultimately, the spot becomes a tribute to the power of sport and to all those who trust in its possibilities to meet any challenge.

In addition to Jenner, the spot counts with the participation of other athletes such as the gymnast Chelsea Werner, to whom Down syndrome has not prevented him from progressing in his career; the surfer Mike Coots who, despite having lost a hand when attacked by a shark, keeps surfing; and Namibia Flores, a South African boxer who has had to face racial and gender bias to achieve her dream.

8 | GILLETTE - "Perfect is not pretty"

The brand wanted to pay tribute to the Olympic athletes, emphasizing the arduous road that they cross during the preparation of the Olympic objective. Neymar Jr. (football), Ashton Eaton (decathlon), Ning Zetao (freestyle swimming) and Andy Tennant (team pursuit cycling) become the protagonists of their own history.

The spot reveals the hard daily struggles that athletes face during their preparation, the sacrifices they make - from enduring extreme conditions to discussions with their closest family environment -, the resignations they have to make .... Without doubt, Gillette manages to put in the mind of the receiver that "The perfect is not always beautiful" and that every success involves a great effort.

9 | ADIDAS - Sport Needs Creators

Under the motto "sport needs creators", the sports brand Adidas has launched a new commercial in which it takes advantage of all its figures, including Pogba from Manchester United; Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller of the Denver Broncos; two-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers; 2015 National League Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs; four-time NBA All-Star James Harden of the Houston Rockets; rookie guard Moriah Jefferson of the San Antonio Stars; and NBA Draft picks Brandon Ingram of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics and Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.

"Every ball hit, every move of the bat, every shot on goal ... It's an opportunity to create," said Ryan Morlan, Adidas Brand Director. "We want the world to know that sports need creators. The sport needs athletes who not only want to work hard but also use their imagination and creativity to take their game to the next level. Our latest brand statement (Sport Needs Creators) is a tribute to athletes around the world who think and act beyond the norm of today's sport, "continued Morlan.

 The film presents athletes of the teamadidas challenging the status quo through creativity in sports and is a cry for athletes to take advantage of their imagination and use creativity in sports.

Sport Needs Creators is the latest chapter of the adidas SPORT 16 campaign that is based on the belief that all athletes are here to create.

10 | DICK6'S SPORTING GOODS - Gold In US

Dick's Sporting Goods, sponsor of the US team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, presented the "Gold in US" campaign, a spot that highlighted the fact that every athlete carries a champion inside through the metaphor of gold. The spot combines scenes of the athletes of the American team with powerful images of natural scenes. A voice-over counts as gold, one of the most valued elements today, is part of every human being (each person contains 0,2 milligrams of gold); but only some are strong enough to emerge.

The athletes that star in the spot are: the volleyball player Kerri Walsh-Jennings, the boxer Claressa Shields, the fencer Daryl Homer, the gymnast Danell Leyva, the long jump paralympic athlete Lex Gillette, the runner Laura Ryan and the throwing athlete from hammer, Kristin Smith, to hammer throw athlete.

Author: Laia Gilibets i Barbens