This outrageously surrealistic spot where basketball meets high opera is one of my all time favorite commercials. Charles Barkley is discovered on an elaborate stage playing a game of basketball and singing within the context of an opera. Operatic referees, cheerleaders and newsmen swirl, even fly, around the stage. We carved a giant classical 'Atlas' statue, supporting a huge boulder into which a basketball hoop was mounted (can be seen here in the Statues section of Props). At the end, Charles Barkley uncovers the plot to get his Nike shoes -"The scarpe? No!" he sings. He slam dunks his victory home and the whole statue crumbles in a cloud of smoke. As the smoke clears, Barkley is revealled centerstage, in triumphant victory.

A fantastic commercial, this was initially deemed too sophisticated for our market and almost not even shown in the United States. The decision was finally made to run it in the states and 'Barkley of Seville' went on to win great popularity and major awards.

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