If you’ve been glued to the Tokyo Olympics this week, you probably would have noticed the introduction of a number of new sports including surfing, sport climbing, baseball and karate.
But there is one new sport that seems to have particularly grabbed the imagination of viewers.
Making its debut at the Tokyo 2020 games, skateboarding has arrived on the scene with young, talented athletes kicking, flipping and twisting their way to gold.
The introduction of skateboarding is undoubtedly an attempt by the event organisers to engage younger viewers.
Ever the marketing masterminds, Nike has since latched on to the new wave of Olympic entertainment and released a skateboarding-inspired piece of creative.
While skateboarding might stereotypically be associated with punk or rock music, the latest Nike spot is anything but.
‘New Faries’ is like something from a Disney movie, with mystical music and some adorable animated animals.
It is the work of Wieden + Kennedy São Paulo.
You can see it here.
The main star of the campaign is 13-year-old Brazillian skateboarder Rayssa Leal, who recently won a silver medal in Tokyo in the street category.
The use of “fairy” in the campaign is a nod to Leal’s nickname “Fadinha”, which means “Little Fairy”.
“Rayssa: the fairy that flies without wings. New fairies. Play New,” the video description reads.
Following Leal’s success at Tokyo, there has been a rush to trademark ‘Fadinha’.
Flavia Penido, who lives in Brazil and watched Leal compete, took to Twitter this week to reveal she had decided to register the name before someone else did, according to the Herald.
“Sometimes you have to make quick decisions,” said Flavia Penido, who has trademarked the nickname.
“The interest is obviously not economic but to preserve Rayssa’s eventual rights and show the importance of always having marketing and law work in tandem.”
Penido has said she will be ceding the rights to the athlete.
