"Be The Problem"

20 August 2025

90s

If you can't be the solution...

It can take time for a brand's identity to crystallise and emerge, and it isn't always possible to identify the moment it rips itself out of the cocoon to take flight, but sometimes it is... and this TVC for Under Armour from Uncommon and director-of-the-moment Leigh Powis is an perfect example of how this can happen, and how a brilliant piece of work can create an idea about a brand that feels like it was there all along.

Unlike a lot of the most impressive work showcased at our site, this TVC has already been spotted in the wild... it featured heavily during last weekend's opening fixtures of the English Premier League season. It stood out a mile, and we would have brought it to you sooner if we'd been able to find out who did what. (At the time of reviewing, we still don't have all the credits, so please add yours if it's missing.)

This isn't just the work that under Armour has been building towards, it's the work that Leigh Powis has been building towards. Agency Uncommon seem to take delight in handing brilliant opportunities to talented young directors, and then giving them the freedom to let rip. Powis has repaid their faith and then some, swishing across a generous minute-and-a-half canvas with immaculate brushstrokes to create a beautifully coherent whole from moments of abstraction. It's part of what gabs your attention from the first moment, and holds you firmly in its grip, fully landing the core message about this brand and what it represents.

In recent years, the sportswear market has been cleaved open by a number of upstarts who have out-manoeuvred the established brands who, for so long, were the essence of cool. This piece of communication is not be the final nail in the coffin of those companies, as there's life in the old dogs yet, but it is as dismissive as a youngster's reply to the tired, loudly-expressed opinions of the older generation: "okay, boomer."

UK

Sportswear