In Germany, Nike isn’t the country’s top athletic brand. That would go to Adidas which is based there. That still won’t stop Nike from expanding its reach in Europe, where its continental headquarters is based in the Netherlands, Germany’s western neighbor.
Nike released a new film called “Helden,” which means “Heroes” in German. One of the helden in this film includes Washington Wizards center Moritz Wagner, a German native. You can watch the film in its entirety in the embed above. Yes, Issac Bonga is also German, but he wears Adidas.
The video features more German athletes including boxer Zeina Nassar, Manchester City soccer star Leroy Sané and sprinter Léon Schäfer. Composer Hans Zimmer created his version of David Bowie’s “Berlin” where the images highlight Germany’s racial diversity and multiethnic identity while acknowledging and showing contrast of its past where Berlin’s Olympiastadion opened in 1936 by the Nazis.
You can learn more about the film below.
In Wagner’s segment of the film, he makes a dunk against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He then says “I am the king!” The scene changes to a German girl, presumably of Middle Eastern descent wearing a Moe Wagner Wizards jersey watching on her tablet. She sees him say “You will be queen!”
Here’s a snapshot of the girl seeing Wagner’s message. That all happens from the 40 to 55 second mark.
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Aah! You never know if that girl is ready to dominate on the court for Germany’s women’s basketball team and the WNBA one day.
The commercial ends with the message that “Du tust es nie nur für dich (You never do it just for yourself)” before going to the “Just do it” line.
I liked watching this film and hope you do too!