You Can’t Stop Us: Nike ad highlights hope that sports will return to normal one day

The ad was released during the NBA’s return in Orlando, Florida, and has since gained millions of views on Twitter and Facebook. On YouTube alone, it has been viewed 31,638,293 times as of July 30, 2020.

How was the ad shot? The process involved shortlisting 4,000 sequences and then boiling it down to 72, which formed 36 split-screen pairings. For those uninitiated, A split-screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into adjacent (and possibly overlapping) parts, typically as two or four rectangular areas. This is done to allow the simultaneous presentation of (usually) related graphical and textual information on a computer display. TV Sports used this presentation methodology in the 1960s for instant replay.

The finished product featuring great sporting moments have been jaw-dropping and a spectacular visual treat. Nike's ad agency Wieden+Kennedy created it with 53 athletes who represent 24 sports. And the other brains behind the ad are Oscar Hudson, who is known for directed music videos for Darwin Deez, Bonobo, Radiohead, and Young Fathers, Joint's editors Peter Wiedensmith and Jessica Baclesse.

Meghan Rapinoe, the star US football player, performs the role of the narrator in the ad. "We're never alone, and that is our strength," she says, before going on to add, "Because when we're doubted, we'll play like one. When we're held back, we'll go farther, and harder. If we're not taken seriously, we'll prove that wrong. And if we don't fit the sport, we'll change the sport."

The ad beautifully juxtaposes players from different sports, male and female athletes as well as physically able and disable sportsperson. While describing the video, Nike said, "Nothing can stop what we can do together. You can’t stop sport. Because #YouCantStopUs. Because as athletes, we are never alone. Sport unites us. Strengthens us. Keeps us pushing ahead. No matter what, we will always come back stronger, together."

It also addresses the Covid-19 crisis, showing split-screen images of workers in hazmat suits spraying down stadium seats. Moreover, it shows players taking a knee, as a tribute to George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

From Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark celebration to Kylian Mbappe's jubilation in the 2018 Fifa World Cup, from as ecstatic Tiger Woods to grunting Rafael Nadal in action and Tampa Bay Rays baseball player Oswaldo Arcia snapping his bat, the ad covers all the emotions of that a player exhibits poignantly. It also features celebrated athletes such as LeBron James, Naomi Osaka, Eliud Kipchoge, Caster Semenya, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Serena Williams, and Colin Kaepernick among others.

It ends with the message of solidarity and fighting the problems unitedly, with Meghan Rapinoe saying in the background, "Because nothing can stop us, what we can do together." The ad has been appreciated by many with people marvelling at the creative brilliance.