The star of this half-time basketball show is…. a cleaning equipment

NBA half-time performances are not always known to be this sanitary. For a surprise show sponsored by Nissan and Rakuten at the NBA Games Japan 2022, an automated mop called the ‘ProPILOT Mop’ was launched to showcase Nissan’s driver-assistance technology.

Performers appeared on-court inconspicuously dressed as court cleaners. But after showing audiences that their mops could indeed self-clean, the performers shed their disguise to reveal shiny costumes underneath and a series of dance moves.

Throughout the performance, the mops cruise the court following a predefined route, recognising the location information of the court and avoiding contact between mops or with obstacles such as multiple mops and dancers performing closely. This is meant to show the auto brand’s map data and mobility technology.

TBWA/Hakuhodo’s senior creative director Nobuhiro Arai said: “The first time I experienced a car journey powered by Nissan's ProPILOT 2.0 and taking my hands off the wheel, I felt a sense of thrill and excitement I had never felt before. Inspired by this feeling, the focus for the creative output was to recapture the emotion of surprise and delight, Nissan technology elicits - this time on the basketball court.”

Ad Nut is a fan of brand campaigns that unexpectedly connect its product with an irregular concept, and this one is no exception. It also shows that a mundane everyday object can be glowed up to showcase sophisticated technology, and Ad Nut cannot help but groove along.

CREDITS

CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER / Takahiro Hosoda
SENIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR / Nobuhiro Arai
ART DIRECTOR / Yosuke Sugioka
COPYWRITER / Ryo Kobayashi
PRODUCER / Yutaka Sato
STRATEGY / Takanori Akahoshi, Taira Yano, Yuzuki Miyata
SOCIAL / Reiko Saito, Takuto Kawamura
PR / Yukinobu Tanida
EVENT / Mineo Mori, Kenji Kurosu
DIGITAL / Shunpei Nakayama
AE / Shinsuke Inazumi, Kunio Baden, Toshihiro Sekiya, Ryusuke Taira, Ryotaro Kawaguchi, Riku Kurashita, Rikuto Yoshida

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