Sonics
'Five as One': Sonics ad campaign single-minded

By Jayda Evans
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Perhaps you've seen those "Five as One" billboards and bus banners sprinkled around the city, the ones with five different hands or eyeballs spliced together to make one multicolored image? You probably wrinkled your face and wondered what it all meant.

You were being teased for three weeks.

Yesterday the Sonics unveiled their ad campaign, titled "Five as One." Not only meaning five players playing on the court as one, but also sharing "One mind, one body, and one soul."

DDB Seattle, the team's new advertising firm, built the concept from talking to focus groups of season-ticket holders and attending training camp.

Last night, two 30-second and two 15-second commercials directed by Chris Robinson aired as the final touches on billboards and other marketing material were distributed.

The high-quality commercials feature the players and coach Nate McMillan. In one, the viewer is led into the Sonics' locker room before a fictional game. Conveying the theme of "one mind," voice-overs let the viewer in on the players' thoughts that can already be heard by teammates. Guard Brent Barry is concerned about a shooter as the camera pans to forward Vladimir Radmanovic gazing into the mirror.

"Oh yeah, looks good," Radmanovic says internally as he fiddles with his hair.

"Looks good to who?" forward Rashard Lewis says in a voice-over as he peers around the corner to see Vlade.

Then guard Ray Allen glances over and calls Radmanovic a "Yugoslavian James Dean" through his thoughts as the team internally busts out laughing. Enter McMillan.

"All right guys, let's focus on the game now," his voice-over says, and the laughing stops. The ad finishes with the slogan, "One mind, one body, one soul."

"These commercials top all of them," said Lewis, who has been a part of six Sonics advertising campaigns. "The filming took all day because we were laughing and joking around and stuff. Like that commercial with Vlade. At first they wanted Ray to do it, and he said, 'No way.' Then they asked me, and I said no. But Vlade was perfect for it. He's a pretty boy, and he's always wearing those tight shirts. I didn't want to seem conceited."

Sour note

Before wrapping up practice with another round of shooting drills full of comical moments, McMillan criticized his team for lack of concentration during the two-hour session yesterday.

McMillan said he felt the team, after winning back-to-back games over the weekend, treated yesterday as a day off.

"This is when you go to work. That (record) goes back to zero (tomorrow) night," McMillan told the players, referring to the Sonics' 5-2 exhibition record. "You start to patting yourselves on the back, we haven't done anything. ... Get your rest at home."

The Sonics have one exhibition game remaining, against Golden State at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

McMillan said he'll wait until next week to make his final cuts. Teams can have 12 active players and three on injured reserve.

Notes

• Guard Antonio Daniels, who suffered a lower-back strain in the first half of Sunday's win over Sacramento, is doubtful for tomorrow's game at KeyArena. He was examined by a doctor yesterday.

• Rookie forward Nick Collison returned from New York, where he had left-shoulder surgery Thursday, and was walking around the training facility with his arm in a sling. He will have surgery on the right shoulder in about 10 weeks.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company