Specifications:

One 10' tall, over life-size statue, pre-scored and pre-broken.​

 

Materials:
Polyurathene carving foam.

 

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Original Not Available.

This outrageously surrealistic commercial where basketball meets high opera is one of my all time favorite commercials. This masterpiece, directed by Joe Pytka, opens up on Charles Barkley, on an elaborate stage playing a game of basketball and simultaneously singing opera, while operatic referees, cheerleaders and newsmen fly all around the stage. We carved the giant classical 'Atlas' statue, supporting a huge boulder with a basketball hoop mounted on it. At the end of the spot, Charles Barkley uncovers a plot to get his Nike shoes -"The scarpe? No!" he sings. He slam dunks his victory, the whole statue crumbles in a cloud of smoke, and as the smoke clears, Barkley is revealed center stage, in triumph. On the lighting day before shooting, it was decided that the statue should be shattered at the spot's climax. This created a big problem, as we did not want to destroy the original statue. We figured out a strategy to resolve the problem, and overnight we built a quick stand-in Altas copy for the shatter effect.

 

This is a truly fantastic commercial. It was initially judged to be too sophisticated for our market and it was almost not even shown in the United States. The decision was finally made to run it in the US, and when it ran, 'Barkley of Seville' went on to win major advertising awards and great popularity here in the USA.