Nike Uses Oregon Ducks' BCS Championship Loss As Advertising Opportunity

The Oregon Ducks have become Nike's pet marketing project over the years. From the uniforms, branding and use of the Ducks in advertisements, Oregon is Nike's college football cornerstone. It's no surprise, then, that the shoe and apparel company used the Ducks' loss in the BCS Championship as another marketing opportunity.

The ad itself is simple, clean and well-done. It's only a picture, of a hand holding an Oregon helmet, with six words. Those words -- "Everyone loses games. Few change them" -- capture a strong emotion following the Ducks' tough loss to Auburn.

Below the jump, the ad, scheduled to run in Oregon papers on Wednesday.

Of course, it shows how much the corporate world plays a role in college football. The BCS Championship was littered with advertisements, right down to the Nike vs. Under Armor matchup on the field. Oregon has become a walking billboard for Nike, with the trademark swoosh plastered all over their uniforms. With the college football world's attention squarely on Oregon, Nike used the opportunity to cash-in.

Nike always finds a way to capture the college football world's attention -- whether it be the highlighter yellow socks the Ducks wore on Monday or this print ad following the game. In this case, however, it's less flash and more substance for the Portland-based company.

Oregon's Nike Uniforms Vs. Auburn's Under Armour In BCS Championship

When you think east Alabama, you think strippers, bad weather, fingers in the air, and truck graphics.

Two nice touches. The Under Armour logo is as big as the Auburn logo, and the left glove reads WAR EAGLE when the wearer rubs his thumb in a circular motion against his ring and middle fingers with his palm facing up.

Tonight's BCS National Championship Game is a battle of cultures in every way but on the playing field. Though both the Auburn Tigers and Oregon Ducks use fast-paced spread offenses based around dual-threat quarterbacks, it's hard to imagine two places in the country more different than Alabama and the Pacific Northwest.

And we've got ourselves a corporate clash subplot, featuring Under Armour as the girl who throws the hammer at the screen? Or whatever?

Last month Nike unveiled slightly modified versions of Oregon's base uniform. I've just told you a lie, as Oregon does not have a base uniform. But unlike other big-game uniforms Nike has come up with, it doesn't look all that different from what Oregon might trot out on any other Saturday. Except for those socks, which suggest very, very few punchlines that don't involve Puddles having territorially marked our model's legs.

Under Armour, Auburn's outfitter, didn't have quite as broad a pallet to bless, since Auburn wears the same thing every week. The marble-trimmed cleats tell less of a story (though have we told you about Alabama's marble? The world's whitest!) than do the gloves, but they at least add to the incredible number of logos adorning Cam Newton's body.