ESPN Courts NCAA March Madness With 'Bracketbrain'

It's all some of us have on our minds

Are your irises morphing into basketballs? Do you see college mascots everywhere you turn? Does your alarm clock read “MARCH”?

No time or date, people. Just the month in all caps!?

If so, then you’re probably trapped in BSSP’s “Bracketbrain” campaign hyping the ESPN Tournament Challenge game:

So, the NCAA stages its hoops championships in March. And fans follow the action and bet on the outcomes obsessively. Who knew?

“Besides the office setting and use of mascots, we made the conscious effort to push it away from any SportsCenter work, especially in tone and the aesthetic,” agency creative director Robyn Tenenbaum tells Muse.

“We wanted to achieve a more cinematic feel with humorous winks,” she says. “SportsCenter is the master of a dry comedic tone and a no-frills visual style. We wanted this piece to build the mania and the phenomenon that is ‘Bracketbrain’ through emphasis on lighting, color, music and SFX to heighten and elevate this world.”

“One of my favorite stories from the shoot was getting to interact with the mascots from Texas, Duke, South Carolina and UCLA,” Tenenbaum recalls. “A few of them stayed in character the entire time. Like when cameras weren’t rolling.”

Sounds like they’ve got brackets on the brain.

The campaign drops today, including digital and OOH elements.