72andSunny launches brand campaign for AVIA

If roadkill could talk, what would they say? Would they lament their stationary position in life, or do they become zen masters of their surroundings?

72andSunny's recent TV ad campaign for athletic footwear and apparel company AVIA addresses just that. The :30 ads, which break in US markets this Saturday, September 16, feature roadkill puppets as a flattened rabbit and bird who give snarky but always insightful commentary on the psyche of runners. The campaign was directed by Geoff McGann of OverTwo Films. The project was overseen by Mark Woolsey, Chief Marketing Officer of American Sporting Goods, the parent company of Avia.

Said Glenn Cole, Creative Director and Co-Founder, 72andSunny, "We knew all too well that running ads have a tendency to treat the sport with a reverent, spiritual tone to the point that the genre has become cliché, and we feel justified in saying this because we've done a few of those ads ourselves. So we approached this in a way that felt more like Avia—dedicated and competitive, but not so impressed with itself."

The idea for the TV creative came out of a series of print ads 72andSunny produced for Avia that ran nationally in the spring issues of running and fitness magazines. The print and TV effort share a similar irreverent attitude that speaks to Avia's hardcore running audience. The TV campaign’s smack-talking roadkill first appeared in a print ad titled "Intimidator."

"The low-fi nature of the spots really works on their behalf,” said John Boiler, Co-Founder and Creative Director, 72andSunny. "The vision and creativity of our partners at OverTwo and Nomad really drove this stuff to a great, viral place. Adopting an intentionally self-made approach to these further differentiates the campaign from a lot of what you see out there in the category."