Coach has tapped Spike Lee to direct an ad for it, and he’s brought in Michael B Jordan in a black leather jacket on a motorcycle, much appreciated. Via Variety:
Newly minted Oscar winner Spike Lee is teaming up with “Black Panther” star Michael B. Jordan on a new short film for Coach that explores the way we hold words and objects close to our hearts – and how they can impact the way we live our lives.
Titled “Words Matter,” the 90-second spot was released this week and features Jordan, the current global face of Coach menswear, riding his motorcycle through the scenic landscape of the Southern California desert. The actor pulls up to a dusty clearing, where he soon spots rocks scrawled with negative words hidden among the cracked desert floor. Taking action into his own hands — literally — he casts the bad stones aside and replaces them with rocks engraved with more positive words. “Bigotry” becomes “Love”; “Lies” becomes “Truth”; and “Evil” becomes “Dream.”
Lee directed and co-wrote the film with his children Satchel and Jackson Lee, while Coach says both the director and Jordan hand-picked the words seen on the rocks. The two shot the film in Southern California this past fall, just before the busy awards season which saw Lee garner multiple nominations and awards for “BlacKkKlansman” (get the film here), while Jordan campaigned for “Black Panther” (get the film here).
Working together for the first time, both men said they were excited to collaborate on a project that spoke to their shared values of inclusion, optimism, and storytelling.