Sports ads are supposed to be fun. Whether it's a guy in Nikes making an impossible basket or a girl in Adidas racing to the finish line, there's always an element of adrenaline-pumping excitement that makes you want to go out and buy those damn sneakers—so you, too, can perform like a well-toned pro.
Unfortunately for brands like Callaway, golf is tear-inducingly boring. (I feel comfortable making that statement given my brief flirtation with the sport, circa age 13.) Most commercials for golf equipment end up being indistinguishable from erectile-dysfunction ads: Does the middle-aged man in the pastel striped polo want to sell us his golf club or tell us about his success with Viagra?
So, rather than show another silver fox on a fairway, Callaway and Factory Design Labs boldly chose to take the Michael Bay approach in its new campaign for the new RAZR family of irons (not to be confused with 2004's coolest cell phone). Just put the golf course atop a series of Las Vegas skyscrapers, trade the carts for helicopters, and suddenly the game seems a whole lot cooler (and the equipment far more impressive). Even the dorky-looking Tommy "2 Gloves" Gainey manages to look slightly badass when hitting a ball across the night skyline.
My advice: Ignore the ad's fine print ("Fictionalization. Nobody can or should do this," blah blah blah) and go hit some balls off your office building's roof. With clubs this accurate, it'll be easy to avoid hitting the pedestrians below!
CREDITS:
Client: Callaway Golf
Agency: Factory Design Labs, Denver
Director: Joseph Kahn