Film Student Creates Powerful Adidas Ad, Too Bad Adidas Didn’t Want It

When Filmakademie student Eugen Merher created his Adidas spec ad “Break Free,” he knew he had something special on his hands. Unfortunately, Adidas’ communications department never got back to him; now they get to watch his beautifully-crafted ad take off without them.

Truth be told, Adidas isn’t missing out on publicity for passing up on Eugen’s creation—they might even be getting rewarded for their silence. It’s just incredible that a young German film student was able to beat Adidas’ ad execs at their own game. He created something more moving, powerful, and personal than any highly-stylized, celeb-studded, CGI-enhanced sports ad we’ve seen in recent memory.

Merher created the ad on spec, hoping Adidas would pick it up and maybe even hire him. But Adidas’ ambivalence (or ignorance of) this commercial flies in the face of the Internet’s reaction. In just over half a month, Break Free has earned over 3 million on YouTube.

Watch the video up top to see a beautiful piece of visual storytelling. Hopefully it’ll inspire you to get out there and create something special.

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