SportsCenter anchors Elle Duncan and Kevin Neganhi meet with the Delta State Fighting Okra in the latest entry in the “This is SportsCenter” ad campaign.
What’s Happening:
- Less than two weeks from the return of the ‘This is SportsCenter’ campaign, ESPN is back with its second spot for the fan-favorite campaign with “Performance Evaluation.”
- Performance Evaluation will air for the first time during the College Football Playoff National Championship between No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 TCU on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:30p ET on ESPN.
- The creative showcases SportsCenter anchors Elle Duncan and Kevin Negandhi meeting with ‘The Fighting Okra’ from Delta State University. The anchors share that co-workers aren’t particularly thrilled with The Fighting Okra’s attitude, with Duncan noting employees have called it moody, negative, and even a buzz kill, among other descriptors.
- The look on the never-changing face of The Fighting Okra says it all.
- This is the second installment of the This is SportsCenter return, with more commercials set to launch throughout the year featuring Olympic Gold Medalist Track & Field phenom Sydney McLaughlin, along with more athletes, mascots and SportsCenter anchors such as Jay Harris, Hannah Storm, and more.
- Recently, to celebrate the return of the campaign, our very own Mike Mack ranked his Top 10 SportsCenter commercials, and you can check them out here.
What They’re Saying:
- Scott Hayes, Creative, Arts & Letter: “Sports are filled with so many interesting, unforgettable characters. It’s great when “This is SportsCenter” can introduce more fans to a character that might not be as known, especially on college football’s biggest night.”
Creative Credits:
- ESPN
- Laura Gentile – EVP, ESPN Marketing and Social Media
- Seth Ader – VP, Brand Marketing
- Peter Mulally – Senior Director, Brand Marketing
- John Lobo – Associate Director, Brand Marketing
- Lenny Washington – Marketing Coordinator, Brand Marketing
- Stacey Pressman – Director, Talent Production
- Katie Hennessey – Sr. Talent Producer
- Matt Cheron – Associate Director, Marketing Production
- Jonathan Little – Associate Producer II , Marketing Production
- Cameron Gross – Associate Producer, Grande & Leonard
- David Wimberley – Production Coordinator
- Thomas Hamilton – Production Coordinator
- J’Ron Erby – Social Media Manager, ESPN Social Content
- Jordan Toczynski – Sr. Social Media Specialist, ESPN Social Content
- Lauren Giudice – Social Media Manager, ESPN Social Content
- Allie Snow – Social Media Specialist 1, ESPN Social Content
- Chris Duffy – Director, Talent Management, ESPN Talent Development & Planning
- Kalidia Reyes – Talent Relations Manager, ESPN Talent Development & Planning
- Arts & Letters
- Charles Hodges – Founder/ECD
- Temma Shoaf – Head of Production
- Andy Grayson – Director of Strategy
- Andrew Kong – Creative Director
- NJ Placentra – Creative Director
- Molly Jamison – Creative Director
- Scott Hayes – Creative
- Chris Kim – Creative
- Calleen Colburn – Executive Producer
- Andrea Rodriguez – Senior Producer
- Austin Butler – Assistant Producer
- Lenora Cushing – Director of Business Affairs
- Jennifer Kmetzsch – Assistant Business Affairs Manager
- Brenda Schneider – Group Business Director
- Hill Shore – Business Director
- Lauren Lawson – Business Manager
- XYZ
- Adrian Mojica – Director of Operations, XYZ
- Whitney Green – Executive Producer, XYZ
- Ryan Dunstan – Resource Manager, XYZ
- Lauren Galanides – Senior Producer, XYZ
- Pat Blumer – Edit Lead, XYZ
- Sho Kellam – Assistant Editor, XYZ
- Rachel Hamburger – Assistant Editor, XYZ
- O Positive
- Jim Jenkins – Director
- Marc Grill – Executive Producer
- Vince Vennitti – DP
- Toni Barton – Production Designer
- Company3
- Tim Masick – Colorist
- Ryan Moncrief – Color Producer
- Stephen Winterhalter – Color Assistant
- Parliament
- Creative Lead – Nathan Kane, Kathleen Kirkman
- Production – Anna Kravstov, Kat Maidment, Sebastien Le Coz
- Barking Owl
- Elizabeth McClanahan – Sound Designer & Mixer
- Ashley Benton – Executive Producer
- Jenna Pangilinan – Associate Producer
- Kelly Bayett – Creative Director