This Is SportsCenter

Read the campaign story

ESPN launched This Is SportsCenter in 1995 with Wieden+Kennedy New York. The films imagined athletes, mascots and presenters sharing everyday life at the broadcaster’s offices. ESPN’s 2019 account distinguishes later internally written work, produced with Hungry Man, from the original agency relationship. All instalments belong to one recurring creative family.

The opened retrospective material establishes the premise and production history, not a causal effect on viewing or commercial performance. Familiarity accumulated across many executions cannot be assumed for a new advertiser borrowing the structure. This case therefore examines how a repeatable fictional setting can communicate an organisation’s role, while treating each joke as a proposed interpretation rather than proof of audience trust.

Editorial interpretation: the workplace becomes a metaphor for proximity to sport. The broadcaster appears to inhabit the same world as the people it covers, rather than merely commenting from outside. Mundane tasks help make celebrated figures approachable. The useful strategic move is the relationship between the setting and the service, not simply placing a famous person in an office and expecting their recognition to carry the brand.

Editorial interpretation: a stable fictional rule can reduce the explanation required in each new instalment. Returning viewers understand the world, leaving more time for a fresh observation. New viewers still need an entry point, however. A campaign that depends entirely on remembered episodes or specialist knowledge can become an insiders’ club. Each execution should work as a small complete story while rewarding, rather than requiring, familiarity.

Write the recurring rule before the first joke

Define what remains true in the fictional world and how that truth expresses the organisation’s offer. Then develop several situations that follow naturally from it. If only one joke works, the idea may be a single advertisement rather than a platform. Test whether someone can explain the premise without naming a celebrity. That helps distinguish a durable brand structure from a temporary borrowing of another person’s fame.

Keep the humour connected to the service

Ask what the viewer learns about the brand’s relationship with its subject after the laugh. A funny scene can be memorable while leaving the advertiser interchangeable. Use details that belong to the organisation, but do not imply that staged events are documentary evidence of actual working practices. Keep commercial relationships clear and avoid making real employees or participants the unwilling targets of a joke.

Design for fresh viewers as well as regulars

Provide enough context to understand the current scene independently. References can reward knowledgeable audiences, but the basic action should remain legible without extensive background. Review the series as a whole for repetition, exclusion and fatigue. A recognisable format earns renewal through specific new observations, not merely by adding another well-known face or repeating the same contrast with a different prop.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: storyboard three original scenes in a fictional repair advice service where tools behave like colleagues, each explaining one ordinary service task.

Measure recognition of the shared premise, understanding of the service and recall of which organisation the humour represents. Compare the series with unrelated jokes and a direct explanation. Ask newcomers which details they needed to understand the scene, and separate enjoyment from a realistic intention to use the service.

Stop if the joke humiliates participants, misrepresents actual service capabilities or becomes memorable only because of a borrowed personality.

• Use invented characters and no celebrity likenesses.
• Keep all scenes on paper or screen, with no unsafe tool demonstrations.
• Provide plain service descriptions alongside the fictional scenes.