Nike Salutes Rayssa Leal, Who's Enjoyed a Fairy-Tale Olympics

For Nike's Fairies collection, Wieden + Kennedy São Paulo enlisted Brazilian teenage skater pro Rayssa Leal to star in the brand's "New Fairies."

The 90-second spot is backed by Lily James's "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Disney's Cinderella, released in 1950. The animation style from that film is also lifted to bring a bit of magic to Rayssa's urban skating experience. She glides peacefully through the city streets, every nook and cranny available to her, with cartoon wings on her back and cartoon animals flocking to meet her. 

In one instance, graffiti on a wall boldly reads, "Fairies do exist."

This is a departure from typical skater-focused work, which mostly features men and has an upbeat, counterculture energy. The latter vibe is still there, but only subtly so. This is more about the parts of a person's inner world that spill out as you move through life, engaged in something you love and that loves you back.

"New Fairies" is part of Nike's global "Play New" campaign, an invitation to discover sports in a different way. In this case, the goal is to make skateboarding feel more inclusive for women. But maybe the nicest thing about it is that the work doesn't just diversify ideas about who skates; it broadens what skateboarding can be and feel like.

Leal, who is just 13 years old, is uniquely positioned to make the point. She is the youngest person to ever represent Brazil on the global sports stage for skateboarding, and was dubbed "the skateboarding fairy" after a video went viral on Vine in 2015 showing her landing a heelflip at 7 years old while dressed in a pixie outfit.

She also won the silver medal in street skating competition in Tokyo, becoming the youngest Olympic medalist in 85 years.

"I am very happy to inspire other girls to take up the sport. Skateboarding is a sport for women too; it's for everyone," she says. "I want other girls to have the same opportunity I had, to see their lives and their dreams fulfilled through the sport. We only need to believe in ourselves and in our potential."

The work ends with that old Vine footage. At the time, that video likely already did much for bringing more girls to skating. In a way, "New Fairies" is a brand tribute to the path Leal started paving much earlier.

"Rayssa's journey is an inspiration to all girls, all around the world. It shows that you can be a kid and believe in fairy tales, and at the same time be brave and go into areas that weren't seen as spaces for girls," says Gustavo Viana, marketing director at FISIA, Nike's official distributor in Brazil. "Nike wants to promote the sport and show that everyone can practice it, regardless of gender. The intention of this sport is to bring people together." 

CREDITS

FICHA TÉCNICA:
AGÊNCIA | AGENCY: Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo
TÍTULO | TITLE: Novas Fadas
DURAÇÃO | LENGTH: 90"
CLIENTE | CLIENT: Nike do Brasil / Nike Global
PRODUTO | PRODUCT: Empower
1ª DATA | DATE AIRED: 24/07/2021 
DIRETORES EXECUTIVOS DE CRIAÇÃO | EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Eduardo Lima | Renato Simões
DIRETORES DE CRIAÇÃO | CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Mariana Borga | Fabiano Higashi
REDATOR | COPYWRITER: André Pallu
DIRETOR DE ARTE | ART DIRECTOR: Renan Molin | Cacá Barabás
ATENDIMENTO | ACCOUNT: Camila Hamaoui | Nathalia Assad | Tabata Viana | Carolina Cavallini |Bruno Capasso | Paula Galiano
PLANEJAMENTO | PLANNER: André Troster | Fernando Prado | Lucas Nunes
SOCIAL STRATEGY: Thiago Perin | Camila Paier| Marina Coelho 
MÍDIA | MEDIA: Michelle Fernandes |Iuellen Souza | Theodora Mello | Lucas Seigo 
RTV | AGENCY PRODUCER: Regiani Pettinelli | Fernanda Moura
PRODUTORA | PRODUCTION COMPANY: Stink Films
FOTÓGRAFO | PHOTOGRAPHER: Gabriel Bianchini
DIRETOR DE CENA | DIRECTOR: Irmãs Fridman (The Fridman Sisters)
ASSISTENTE DE DIREÇÃO | DIRECTOR ASSISTANT: Gustavo Gusmão (1AD) | Nathalia Salani (2AD) | Luísa Monteiro (2AD) | Fred Tariki (1AD) | Julia Conatti (2AD)
DIRETOR DE FOTOGRAFIA | DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Douglas Bernardt
DIRETOR DE ARTE | ART DIRECTOR: Carol Ozzi
2º UNIDADE | 2nd UNIT: Pedro Tejada
FIGURINO | WARDROBE: Marina Vieira
MAKE & HAIR | MAKEUP & HAIR: Marcella Leme Ferreira
PRODUÇÃO DE ELENCO | CAST PRODUCER: Giovanna Rouvier
PRODUTOR DE LOCAÇÃO | LOCATION PRODUCER: Eduardo Lima
DIRETOR DE PRODUÇÃO | PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Rafael Rocha
MAKING OF: André Cozza | André Fridman
CONSULTOR DE SKATE | SKATEBOARDING SUPERVISOR: Fernando Granja
DIRETORA EXECUTIVA | MANAGING DIRECTOR: Ingrid Raszl
PRODUTOR EXECUTIVO | EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:  Renata Dumont | Carolina Junqueira | Tico Cruz | Camila Martinez | Ana Gazal | Marcela Amstalden
COORDENAÇÃO DE PRODUÇÃO | PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Paula Macedo | Mariana Kerche | Amanda Grell
COORDENAÇÃO DE PÓS PRODUÇÃO | POST PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: Roberta Bruzadin | Marcela Antunes
​MONTADOR | EDITOR: Danilo Abraham
FINALIZADORA | POST EDITING: Camila Doimo
PÓS PRODUÇÃO | POST PRODUCTION: Malaia Inc.
ILUSTRAÇÃO E ANIMAÇÃO | ILLUSTRATION AND ANIMATION: Cartel Cartoon
COLOR GRADING: Osmar Jr.
PESQUISA | TREATMENT RESEARCH: Nina Coimbra | Jessica Teleze
PRODUTORA DE SOM | AUDIO FACILITY: Supersonica
PRODUTOR E MAESTRO | MUSIC PRODUCER, ORCHESTRATOR AND CONDUCTOR: Gabriel Ferreira
ATENDIMENTO | AUDIO ACCOUNT: Tatiana Nascimento | Luan Ferreira
PRODUÇÃO EXECUTIVA E COORDENAÇÃO | EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION AND COORDINATION: Marilia Franco e Cassia Garcia
SUPERVISOR DE ORQUESTRA | ORCHESTRA SUPERVISOR: Rafael Cesário
ENGENHEIRO DE SOM | SOUND ENGINEER: Felipe Kim 
SOUND DESIGN E FINALIZAÇÃO | SOUND DESIGN AND POST EDITING: Vinicius Villani
ESTÚDIO DE GRAVAÇAO | RECORDED AT: Jacarandá Audio
APROVAÇÃO CLIENTE | CLIENT APPROVAL: Raphael Peres | Livia Pinheiro | Fabio Albuqerque | Ingrid Ferreira | Jesse Long | Guilherme Mortensen | Gino Woo | Madeline Leary