"I can Hear Them All"

While scrolling through pages and pages of vines taking up my newsfeed on Facebook, one video caught my eye. The video was a commercial for Duracell, the battery company. Derrick Coleman, the focus of the commercial, is
in no way considered to be a "famous" football player. I'm an avid football watcher and I had never heard of the man. He has something that sets him apart from the rest of the athletes seen doing commercials.
 Derrick Coleman, the backup Fullback for the Seattle Seahawks, has been deaf since he was three years old. He played college ball at UCLA, and went un-drafted. Everyone told him to give up, but as he says in the commercial: "I've been deaf since I was three, so I didn't listen". What a GENIUS way to show his determination while reminding the viewer of this seemingly un-conquerable problem. The Seahawks stadium is known for being the loudest in the NFL. This ESPN article explains just how loud CenturyLink Field can become. The only deaf football player happens to play for the loudest team in the world? Call that ironic.
The ad included young Derrick getting picked on in middle school, his hearing-aid falling out during a high school game, and not getting drafted on draft day. The part of this advertisement that was so amazing was the final line: "And now I'm here, with the loudest fans in the NFL cheering me on, and I can hear them all". I've seen this video over 5 times, and I get chills every single time that last line is spoken.

After watching it for the second time, I realized why this commercial was so powerful. Of course it's an incredibly inspiring story, but it goes deeper than just the plot. Not once, during Derricks monologue, did Duracell show their logo and try to advertise during their own commercial. They let Derrick have his part, attract the viewer, and then... BAM: "Trust The  Power Within", Duracell's slogan, pops up on the screen. When a Coke-Cola or Samsung commercial plays, and each of their logos is seen 15 times in a 30 second viewing window, it's overkill. This is the first commercial that I can remember to take this new approach to advertising, and it worked. It's all of my friends favorite commercial, and in my opinion, the best commercial I've ever seen. Check out the video if you want to be inspired.