Here I'm dealing with a parody ad that makes me feel ignorant on so many levels: I don't know who French soccer star Franck Ribery is, I don't know the intro to the '70s Pink Panther Show (check it: the Pink Panther has a theme song that's not super-famous and is very, very dated), and I was unaware that ridiculously-colored shoes are acceptable in the European soccer world.
We've got Ribery running fast and, uh, gambling. It's a beautiful ad, but still...Nike's hook is that the shoes are pink. Furthermore, is there seriously an overlap between people who'll recognize this theme song and people willing to wear pink shoes? While playing soccer?
The website takes a different angle altogether: The shoes are completely absurd, so you shouldn't try wearing them unless you're actually talented.
I'm struck by the vaguely threatening nature of that tagline: "You'd Better Be Quick." Or else, maybe someone will beat you up for wearing pink shoes.
Okay, fine—maybe I'm just being contrarion: Nike's pointing out that Ribery is wearing an attention-grabbing version of their long-running Mercurial Vapor brand, which is also available in normal colors. Essentially we're looking at ordinary product placement in some hypercharged form. James Bond is still drinking Heinekin, only now it's bright neon green so you can't possibly miss it.
The sad thing here is that it would've been so easy to make a broader narrative out of Frank Ribery's pink shoes. Maybe for a few months they could be unavailable in stores, and just for him. Maybe the website explains how they give him an extra incentive to be quick, continuing the brand story that the spot starts. Maybe there's something to the narrative beyond an old TV reference. Or maybe it's just a flashy TV spot with an inane TV reference. Waste of time; pointless, even. Woops...that's Snagglepuss.