The William Burroughs Nike commercial

An all ’round great commercial (great concept, great images, great soundtrack, great script, great delivery, . . . and please do COMMENT whatever I left out) is this Nike Air spot featuring William Burroughs as electronic UberShaman.  Striding past his avant-garde disciples — and still possessing the energy and insight of Kerouac’s Bull Lee — Burroughs ascends a video pulpit to address the world — and through the ether-amber of the Internet — for all time.

In a 1965 Paris Review Interview William Burroughs said, “And I see no reason why the artistic world can’t absolutely merge with Madison Avenue. Pop art is a move in that direction. Why can’t we have advertisements with beautiful words and beautiful images?”  Thirty years later, he self-fulfilled this prophesy.