nike // kobe's retirement: don't love me. hate me.

Most people in the Unites States would say Kobe Bryant is an asshole. I mean come on, he drove Shaq away from the Lakers. How can anyone hate on Shaq?

In China though, he can literally do no wrong. They view Kobe as a god. But Kobe didn't want to be seen as a god. He wanted to be celebrated as a villain. So in 2016, when Kobe announced his retirement, he called my work phone and said, "Nick Finney, convince these kids in China that I'm not a god."

So we wrote and produced a spot letting Chinese kids know why they should hate Kobe. And more importantly that they should use this hate as fuel to become something greater.

Press: AdWeek, AgencySpy, Bleacher Report, Hypebeast, Fan Made Video.

Partner: Shaun Sundholm