NIKE WATCHES THE BOUNCING ADVERTORIAL ON MTV

Because there is nothing more sacred to us here at hitsdailydouble.com than the separation of editorial and advertising, we were shocked to read in the New York Times (itself a bastion of that kind of church-and-state division) that MTV will begin airing a two-and-a-half-minute-long Nike commercial tomorrow (4/11), to be introduced by the clip's choreographer Savion Glover on "VJ For A Day." The shocking part is that Nike thought MTV would chyron the commercial the same way it does Backstreet Boys or Nelly videos, with title and credits in the corner of the screen. OK, so it's not shocking, but it is…disturbing.

The clip, which has already been widely seen on NBA broadcasts, was directed by Paul Hunter (who has helmed videos for Jennifer Lopez, and D'Angelo, among others) and uses music from Steve Brown and Afrika Bambaataa, augmented by the sound of a ball bouncing and squeaking sneakers on the court. It features pro players, including Toronto Raptor Vince Carter, Darius Miles and Lamar Odom of Lenny Beer's L.A. Clippers, Sacramento King Jason Williams and others, showing off some ballhandling skills. And not the kind of ballhandling skills we like to watch at home, either.

Nike spokesperson Scott Reames told the Times that the company thought the chyron would be used to make the ad look like it was shot as a video. "I mean, we used music and video at the same time. Isn't that what a video is?"

MTV spokesperson Graham James said that the company wanted to make sure that the clip was "not being treated as programming," though if enough "kids" called in for it, it could make it on to "TRL." "But good luck with that, unless they do a flyaway, some more ad buys and put an indie on it."

All of which makes us wish for the day when MTV will blur out Marshall logos on amplifiers the way it does to marijuana leafs and, um, Nike swooshes on clothing during "Road Rules."