Nike and La Colombe’s ads show cities as stories

Cities are more than just backdrops; they’re the story itself for Nike, La Colombe and culture-led creatives.

Nike’s Knicks spot and La Colombe’s ‘Must Be The Coffee’ sit in very different categories, but they’re driven by the same instinct: stop telling stories about products and start reflecting the lived experience of the city setting.

Nike’s film, which slightly reminds us of the Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony or Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy videos, is all about New York, its frenetic pace, and its fan culture.

It shows a kid in a Jalen Brunson jersey sprinting through the city, which dissolves around him as he runs determinedly. He winds up among a crowd already celebrating, with the line: “Never slept. Always dreamed.”

The choice of Billy Joel’s ‘New York State of Mind’ was a smart choice, as Joylon Varley of agency OK COOL points out: “They could’ve gone with ‘Empire State of Mind’. Instead they chose the man who’s played the Garden more than any artist alive. So authentically NYC.”

The ad is about a city waiting 50 years for a Knicks’ Championship win, and the energy that can bring.

Coffee stop

La Colombe’s work, created by Uncommon New York, also embraces a city’s culture: in this case, Philadelphia, whose underdog appeal is conveyed through ritual. The coffee isn’t the hero, the city is.

Directed by Leigh Powis, the film dwells very much on everyday interactions. Philly feels lived in and celebrated: “its home town, its unrelenting underdog spirit, and the coffee fuelling it all,” as the blurb reads.

In both cases, the brand isn’t creating culture; it’s observing it and amplifying it.

Never sleep

There’s a lot of creative mileage in making the city the star, but to get it right, like the two ads above, it’s best not to over-explain. 

Trust the audience and their instinct for cultural references, in-jokes and nuance.

In an era where global campaigns often flatten their backdrops, Nike and La Colombe put it in the foreground.