JR東日本 | JR SKISKI | 2016
An Ostrich! / JR East "JR SKISKI" Triple Jump
An ostrich! An ostrich is skiing! Set to upbeat music, it tears down the slopes with turns, jumps, and Cossack moves—impossible tricks that had me completely glued to the screen.
The idea
Three CG ostriches, strapped into ski boots, go flying down the mountain at top speed. In the "RE BORN" prologue, the setup is: "I wanted to ski again... but I was reborn as an ostrich!" From there, the story unfolds into the ostrich becoming a hero on the slopes. The music is an original track produced by Backslash, written specifically for this commercial.
Afterthought
This ostrich ad is the one that's stuck with me the most, too. At the very end, where the three company logos line up and the "×" between them blinks—that tiny detail has lodged itself permanently in my brain. The fact that such small (well, not that small) touches stay with you is proof of just how powerful this ad really is. From the '90s through the 2000s, JR SKISKI reigned as a winter tradition, paired with unforgettable songs like ZOO's "Choo Choo TRAIN" and globe's "DEPARTURES." Within that legacy, this campaign skipped celebrities entirely and went all in on one bold idea—a CG ostrich—to grab everyone's attention. Even now, watching it again, it's gloriously ridiculous and impossible not to love.
