Lance Armstrong on the ropes in new Nike campaign

NYTimes.com | A Different Campaign for Nike

The New York Times (free registration required) reports that Nike is kicking off a new ad campaign tomorrow, showing their big name endorsers crossing over into different sports: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick joins Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher in the hockey rink, and Andre Agassi plays a little baseball.

Lance Armstrong is a boxer in the campaign, whose tagline is “What if?” Nike’s Nancy Monserrat says:

The inspiration was some bemused discussion, so typical among sports fans, along the lines of “what if Tiger Woods's father had handed him a baseball bat” rather than a golf club or what if “when Lance Armstrong was 3 years old his mother handed him a pair of boxing gloves instead of a bike.”

Ad agency creative director Mike Byrne said Armstrong looked good in the ring:

“... he and a boxing trainer from Los Angeles went off for an hour and he comes back throwing jabs and hooks and uppercuts.”

The six-week campaign begins with a 90-second spot that will run through Saturday, then be replaced by shorter versions. Other switchers include Marion Jones as a gymnast, Lurch stand-in Randy Johnson as a pro bowler, and Serena Williams playing beach volleyball.