For its 2023 Chinese New Year campaign, “Never Done Dreaming Big,” Nike and Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai show how far a kid’s big talk can go and inspire a young generation in China to boldly imagine their future and act upon it. The campaign stars four of China’s biggest athletes who turn back into kid versions of themselves to encourage people to never stop dreaming.
According to the campaign, “Life is challenging for Chinese youth, especially Gen-Z. When they are supposed to dream wild and act big, they have to be rational and practical just to stay afloat in life,” according to the brand: “Nike believes otherwise.”
The hero film centers around a very special table that is present at every traditional CNY dinner – the kids’ table, a kid-sized dining area usually placed next to the adult table that gathers all the kids in the family and those who don’t drink.
And this is the kids’ once-in-a-year opportunity to… TALK BIG! To make the kids’ big talks even more inspiring the film features two-time Grand Slam champion Li Na, basketball legend Yi Jianlian, “Chinese football goddess” Wang Shuang, Olympic Gold medalist in 110m hurdles Liu Xiang, aspiring tennis players Zheng Qinwen and Emma Raducanu… all in their kid forms.
The film uses deep fake technology, merging live-action video with computer-generated faces. Each shot is retouched frame by frame to achieve maximized likeness and realness, as we see these kid athletes stun Europe as the globe-trotting football hero, lead superhero dream team, become Asia’s Flying Man, and inspire future athletes in the whole country and beyond.
In parallel, Wieden+Kennedy also crafted an animated film, “The Bunny Run,” which expands the notion of dreaming big. The animation features a child version of Su Bingtian, China’s fastest sprinter, and is based on his love for running that led him to chase bunnies when he was younger.
The folks have been generating huge buzz across social media in China, considered yet another successful collaboration between the Nike spirit and the local culture.
Credits
Nike China
Brand Creative Senior Director: Simon Lee, Che Lin
Narrative Director: Michael Chien
Narrative Manager: Jovi Weng
Art Director: Diana Tang
Senior Designer: Scott Wang
Designer: Cyan Wang
Copywriter: Tiara Xu
Production Director: Kelly Zhan
Senior Producer: Sherry Xu, Ellie Sun
Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai
Chief Creative Officers: Ian Toombs / Vivian Yong
Head of Creative: Matt Meszaros
Creative Director: Zhong How
Associate Creative Director: Uty Chen / Ruby Li / Jing Qiu
Senior Art Director: Huicheng Wu
Art Director: Huzi Hu
Senior Creative: Diye Zhan
Junior Copywriter: Zhaojing Qian
Head of Production: Fang Yuan
Leading Senior Producer: Diana Chew
Senior Producer: Vonny Shing
Producer: Mia Zeng
Production Assistant: Doreen Zhu
Head of Planning: Summer Yang
Senior Planner: Bart An
Junior Planner: Katie Li
Group Brand Director: Qinna Ye
Brand Director: Yuting Zhang
Senior Brand Manager: Esther Choi
Brand Manager: Jessica Liu, Lynn Kuo
Senior Brand Executive: Howan Tong
Business Affairs: Jessica Deng, Hui Ye, Gloria Ji
Head of Design: Juni Tsu
Designer: Dongni Liu, Loop Lu, Fenghe Luo, Tingru Hou
Leading Design Producer: Vic Zhang
Senior Retoucher: Changqing Lee
FA Artist: Dennis Chen
Teaser Editor: Juno Zhu
Film(Anthem)
Production: Lunar Films
Executive Producer: Ken Yap
Director: Caroline Koning
Producer: Jacq Wilkinson
Producer : Feng Zhe
Line Producer: Wang Wei / Zoey.Z
Production Manager: Chen Jun
Production Coordinator : Arnold.L
Locations Manager: Wang Xu Dong
Production Assistant: Mao Run Hong/Chen Ze Sheng
1st Assistant Director: Jo.C
Stylist: Athena.W
Asst. Stylist: Shuang Shuang
Art Director: Tang Zheng
Assistant Art Director: Fiona.W
Props Master : Zhang Lin
DOP: Liang Zi
Focus Puller: Wang Xiao Wei
Gaffer: Xue Zhi Qiang
Grip: Zhang Yi Lu
Casting: Kelly Jin
Qtake :Chee Kee
DIT :Qin Yi Wen
Offline Editor: Chris Zimmermann, Shihao Zhang
Film(Vignette)
Production: Republic Studios
Executive Producer: Eric Hu
Director: Giant Ant
Executive Producer: Teresa Toews
Executive Creative Director: Jay Grandin
Creative Director: Eric Pautz
Head of Character Animation: Sitji Chou
Head of 2D Animation: Conor Whelan
Illustration: Eric Pautz, Sitji Chou, Esther Cheung, Joan Chung, Tristan Menard, Sanaa-Agathe Coste, Colin Bigelow, Conor Whelan
Cel Animation: Sitji Chou, Esther Cheung, Louis Roba, Joan Chung
Clean Up Animation: Alex Murphy, Bruno Brasil, Aaron King, Margarita Rojas Lopez-Abadia, Fernanda Ribeiro
Compositing Lead: Conor Whelan
Compositing: Alex Murphy, Diego Maclean
Post Production: The Mill Shanghai
Executive Producer: Lily Li
Producer: Christopher Li
Production Assistant: Tingyi Su
VFX Supervisor: Schalk Van Der Merwe, Barry Greaves
Technical Director: Tommy Fu
Colorist: Nicola Gasparri
Color Assistant: Gloria Chen, Peter Yu, Zhenkun Mei
Color Producer: Iris Zhang
Data Engineer: Kan Lai
Data Wrangler: Anel Van Der Merwe, Yicheng Zhu
Compositors: Zhongyan Dai, Minnie Chen, Sally Lu, Chloe Gao, Jun Xu, Zhisong Liu, Sally Cui, Lina Yoo, Dada Cheng, Tingting Su, Min Min, Rose Pan, Qiu Cheng, Robin Liu, GZ Hsu, Tobey Tsao, James Corden
CG Asset: Aram Hakze, Cathy Xi, Selim Salah, Miya Shen
Animators: Alexey Petryaev
Lighting: Paolo Gnoni, ZhangYao, Limei Li
Audio Production: Animal Beast Production
Composer : Gustav P Karlstrom, Eirik Roland
Executive Producer: Josef Johansson
Audio Studio: Fancy Element (Vignette)
Executive Producer: Weiqiang Deng，Lu Zhan
Talent: Xiaotao Wen
Audio Studio: Hush Studios (Vignette)
Sound Recording: Jiaxi Wang
Producer: Kelly
