It’s rare we ever come across work from SF-based Heat that isn’t for some new game from Electronic Arts. But, considering Heat’s high level of consistency on these projects, especially for the EA Sports imprint, we really can’t imagine the agency working for any other brand, despite the fact that Heat counts AOL and the Huffington Post among its clients.

Sure, you can note the obvious similarities between this work and the decades-old “This is SportsCenter” campaign for ESPN. But, if you can take a formula that’s proven to capture the attention of sports fans and apply it to video games, why wouldn’t you?

A TV campaign for EA Sports’ newest game, NCAA Football 13, asks the question, “If you could put any Heisman Trophy winner in history on your favorite team, would you do it knowing that it would betray historic rivalries?” The dad in the above spot admits that, yes, having 1991 Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard returning kicks for Ohio State would be nice. But, Howard played for Michigan, Ohio State’s biggest rival. Therefore, this makes his son an awful traitor, and destroying his TV is just the beginning in this father eventually exiling his son to Ann Arbor for all eternity.

View credits, and watch what happens when Tim Tebow plays for Georgia and Robert Griffin III suits up for LSU after the jump.

Read more

When he’s not starring or moonlighting in VitaminWater ads, getting Bieberized on the b-ball court or directing documentaries, Renaissance man/NBA star Steve Nash is making the most of his lockout time by, yes, playing video games with the one-and-only Hope Solo. In this latest EA Sports campaign from San Francisco’s Heat (and production company Skunk), the sports pros do battle in a game of FIFA Soccer 12. Nash once again shows off his great dry wit in a little pre-game trash talk, where he describes himself as “a gorilla and a leopard” with the straightest of faces. Guess it can be kinda fun watching other people play video games after all

If the Nash/Solo battle doesn’t suit you, a second spot in the Soccer 12 Matchups series stars Landon Donovan and SF Giants pitcher Tim “I’m Not the Guy from Dazed & Confused” Lincecum. See below. Credits after the jump.

Update: Along with getting a credits update (Rehab actually produced the Tim/Landon spot), we forgot to mention why we thought of this campaign in the first place and that’s the 60-second spot we first saw yesterday on Stereogum starring Nash, Solo and SNL‘s Seth Meyers and featuring Battles “Ice Cream” from their great new album, Drop Gloss. Watch it after the jump.

Read more