<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><div class="date">August 29, 2007</div> <div class="byline">llazare@ suntimes.com </div> The Chicago Bulls had a strong season last year, making it to the playoffs and looking like a real contender, until they hit a brick wall called the Detroit Pistons. From an advertising perspective, last season also was special. You might recall the team and staff came to life in a nicely executed series of commercials from DiMeo & Co./Chicago, wherein players and their coaching staff shared interesting bits about themselves on camera that gave the public a better feel for them as people as well as sports celebrities. Last year's Kirk Hinrich spot was especially memorable. It revealed he had written a note as a young boy in which he spelled out his big dream of playing for the Chicago Bulls. Many years later, Hinrich's mom found the note and showed it to him. Not an earth-shattering tale, to be sure, but one that was nicely captured on film. And one that added a real human dimension to the Hinrich aura.</p> We have dwelled on the pleasing memories of last season's television ad campaign for the Chicago Bulls, because the commercials from DiMeo for the upcoming season are so embarrassingly lame by comparison. The overarching theme for the new television, print and outdoor campaign is "Love It Live," intended as a reminder to fans that the rejuvenated Bulls are always more exciting to watch in person than on television.</p> But, sadly, the new television spots are far from exciting. Each of several commercials focuses on stock footage of one player in action. There's absolutely nothing special about the footage, mind you, but DiMeo has tried to make it seem otherwise via some fancy editing and split-screen shenanigans that really don't add much. What's more baffling is the total absence of any voiceover copy that might have compelled viewers to pay attention. A few dull lines of written copy splashed on screen don't create much in the way of impact.</p> Not surprisingly, DiMeo has tried to shift attention from the television work to a new billboard that has just gone up on I-294 south of O'Hare Airport. It features a three-dimensional, 10-foot-tall, 300-pound fiberglass Luol Deng driving to the hoop. The 3-D component, of course, is eye-catching, but one dramatic billboard hardly compensates for the paucity of creativity in the television executions. </p> </p><div class="story_subhead">Lew's view: C-</div> LEWIS LAZARE</div></p> LINK</p>
