Traktor
"Angry Chicken" for Nike
- DirectorTraktor
- Production CompanyPartizan
- AgencyWieden+Kennedy Portland
- Creative DirectorMike Byrne
NICLAS LARSSON Traktor’s ‘Chicken’ for Nike is still one of the funniest ads ever made. Some choices here are absolutely stunning. The French voice under the ultra-dry English infomercial voiceover is comedy gold. Just the entire package is fantastic.
The story behind
In this humorous 60-second ad, a man is frantically chased through town by an angry chicken, all while wearing Nike Presto shoes. The ad capitalizes on absurdity, athleticism, and comedy to highlight the agility (and cool image) of the Presto line.
It was filmed in Paris, featuring Sébastien Foucan, one of the founding figures of parkour - a relatively unknown discipline at the time. The spot cleverly captures the spontaneous physicality and humor of a chicken suddenly taking on the role of an agile pursuer.
Creative director Mike Byrne beautifully summed up the concept:
“You have an idea about an angry chicken and le parkour before anyone knew about angry chickens. And this is for a Nike commercial? Who do you call? Traktor! Not only did they take something perceptibly silly they made it convincingly believable.”
The ad received a Yellow Pencil award from D&AD in 2003 in the TV/Cinema Advertising category (under 60 seconds), underscoring its creative brilliance.