The 2 minute YouTube clip below captures the video quotient of the 2008 Nike SPARQ multimedia ad campaign. (There are 3 quick spots...take a peek.)
Not sure how it may have permeated around the globe, but those in North America may remember it. It’s littered with professional sports figures.
With that said, in the spirit of its imagery, style, and attitude - what is an ‘Orienteer’s Better’?
What makes Gueorgiou, Luder, Lundanes, Alm, Hubmann, Tove, Mårtensson, etc... legendary...and just that much better?
What could they say in the quick dialogue frames of an O-centric video?...in the same playfully cocky, grittier, ballsier (pardon my French) way?
What terrain would we see?
Portuguese pine? Kiwi pine? Guardamar? Lünsen/Nästen? Swiss sub-alpine? Slovenian karst? Calabrian villages? Gritty dock lands? Euro city centres? , etc.
What images would we see?
Spikes scraping on rock, splashing, grunts, hill climbs, aggressive rocky downhill descents, autumn colour, archival WOC footage, the Tre Kronor, Norwegian flag, French flag, Swiss flag, SI beeps, drone Jukola starts, O’Ringen arenas, Thierry’s final win in Estonia, etc.
Make sense? Some O-musement.
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A couple final things:
There is a previous thread called the ‘Best description of orienteering’. For me, (and maybe some others) - an ad in this style would resonate - and I know it may not appeal to all. I get it...
But that’s the amazing thing about our sport! It means so many different things to so many different people. Definitely one of the common denominators that should be celebrated.
And before the thread gets hijacked into an ‘Orienteer/Orienteerer’ debate (there may be a few out there itching to pounce). The consensus is ‘Orienteer’.
The proof is a 38 post AP deep dive on it (and baltering) from 2006: (feet writes in Latin.)