Overall Nike’s recent ‘Human Chain’ commercial is pretty cool. It has a nice song playing that goes really well with the action, it has a slightly artsy feel without feeling overbearing and it has a strong sense of empowerment for the brand and the athletes involved. One thing in the commercial still feels out of place. It just so happens to be my favorite part of the commercial as well, the MMA section.
The MMA fighter showcased is Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Upon initially seeing the commercial I was ecstatic to see MMA getting more coverage (OK I still am), but it doesn’t quite flow with the rest of the commercial. Every other scene in the commercial has the long chain of repeating athletes, this scene is notably lacking it. They try to add a little bit of the effect when Rampage throws the punch at the other fighter but it is hard to see and doesn’t have the same power it does in all the other scenes. There are plenty of ways they could have re-done the scene to add the chain… but I guess they wouldn’t have gone as well with the song.