Nike's new ad lauds those who're staying active while staying inside their homes

“But today we’re playing for 7.8 billion people.”

This is a line from Nike’s new ad called “You Can’t Stop Us”. On a regular day, this line together with heart-pumping music and striking visuals would make anyone feel they can take on the world or that it’s time to hit the gym or the park and get fit. riking visuals would make anyone feel they can take on the world or that it’s time to hit the gym or the park and get fit.

The ad’s aim is similar now too but only this time, you’re not working out for yourself or your country but the entire world and you are doing it from your home.

It’s the reality we all have begun to accept. The virus has altered our way of life and till it gets better, staying in is the best and only way we can help ourselves and everyone else.

The 60-second black and white ad has snaps of deserted basketball grounds and empty football and baseball stadiums - an ominous nod to the times we’re living in. But to every darkness, there’s light and we see that in the ad.

People despite the trying circumstances are keeping fit and working out from their homes. From football and boxing to weights and cardio, there’s a montage of home shot video clips telling us that we’re not alone in this, we’re in this together.

There are a few athletes in the ad too: Basketball star LeBron James, boxer Ramala Ali, and beach volleyball star Sara Hughes.

This ad falls under Nike’s latest campaign, “Play for the World” and before this ad, it had released a post on social media. The caption read, "Now more than ever, we are one team."

Wieden + Kennedy Portland executed the ad with black and white still images and home video shots of people working out.

As the world adjusts to the quarantine era, brands too are stepping up and producing commercials targeted for such a time. With user-generated visuals, stock images, archived videos, and voice-overs, it’s how commercials are being made today.

Jack Daniel’s, the Tennessee whiskey brand released an ad which celebrated quarantine and social distancing because it has made us more social than ever before.

Visit Portugal, the country’s tourism board of all brands and institutions released an ad too. It spoke about taking a step back and refocusing and recalibrate who we are while the things we love will wait for us.

And while there may be million-plus Coronavirus cases and over 95,000 deaths, there’s still a sign of hope amid this dark time because 3.50 lakh people have recovered from the virus (stats from Worldometer, a website providing real-time statistics).