NFL+ “Never Away From A Play” Campaign

As a kid, I was absolutely terrified of car washes.

Irrational fear?

Understatement.

Going through car washes was my personal Scylla and Charybdis. My older brother, as older brothers are wont to do, would wait until we were in the middle of one, look me dead in the eyes, and slowly roll down a window. Successfully driving me into a car wash crash out.

But as they say, what doesn’t kill you only makes you end up with a better story to eventually turn into a commercial.

When partnering with the NFL to create a campaign for their digital product, NFL+, I wrote this spot setting the action in those tumultuous halls of rainbow soap and roaring dryers. It was more than a little therapeutic, and even more fun to bring to life. Having practical set pieces was important, and each carwash element was built out for the love of the craft.

I had the pleasure of collaborating with the talented NFL and NFL+ teams, and getting the band together, partnering with Nate Steele again. Big shoutout to Tim Ellis for the inspired song choice and for making this queer creative’s year getting to use Celine’s iconic song in a spot. We listened to it so much in the edit that my algorithm is now full tilt “My Heart Will Go On”.

The result was a campaign that not only entertained but also delivered, reinforcing the product’s promise: with NFL+, fans can stream live local games on mobile, so you’re Never Away From A Play.

The following spot, “Gate 53B”, was written by NFL Creative Director, Nate Steele, and my role for this spot was writing the overarching campaign tagline, " NFL+ Never Away From A Play", and leading the Creative Direction (Art Direction) for pre-production, on-set filming, and throughout post-production to final delivery.

Creative Director // Hawken Vance (Writer, Art Direction & Copywriting)
NFL Creative Director // Nate Steele (Copywriter)

Production Company // Prettybird
Post-Production // NFL Films
Commercial Director // Eric Warenheim
Editor // Kyle Brown

Client: NFL
Tim Ellis

Ian Trombetta

Tony Isetta

Chris Hill

Nate Steele

Alison Maddern

Dustin Bowlin

Willis Hulings

Jennica Pearson

Josh Rabenovets

Corryn Hurrington

Jonathan Cannon