After 15 years of Heisman House, Nissan is blowing up the format and starting over. The automaker has launched “Tell Them a Heisman Sent You,” a six-part digital comedy series that transforms legendary Heisman winners Tim Tebow, Travis Hunter and Derrick Henry into competing spokesmen battling for Nissan’s completely fictional Spokesperson of the Year trophy.
Created with TBWA\Chiat\Day, the campaign shifts away from the traditional commercial format and into serialized entertainment designed primarily for YouTube and social. It all began with a spectacular trailer:
The first episode launches Aug. 28, with new chapters rolling out biweekly throughout the football season.
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The series is co-written by screenwriter Jon Lucas (Bad Moms, Bad Moms Christmas) and leans into a heightened, character-driven comedy approach, with the trio facing increasingly ridiculous challenges involving everything from free buffaloes to kid influencers and other deliberately unhinged scenarios.
Fernando Mendoza, Barry Sanders, Eddie George and Jim Plunkett also appear throughout the series.
Rather than simply dropping famous athletes into individual spots, Nissan is giving them an ongoing competitive storyline built around their personalities.
That competition also gives the vehicles a stronger narrative role. The Rogue Platinum, Frontier PRO-4X and Pathfinder are positioned as extensions of each Heisman winner’s competitive edge, with versatility, power and capability woven into the challenges.
The new approach reflects a broader shift in how Nissan is treating sports marketing.
Instead of relying solely on traditional TV spots, “Tell Them a Heisman Sent You” is built as an episodic ecosystem. The six-part series is supported by four TV commercials, more than 40 digital assets, trailers, print and movie-poster-style executions, content creator collaborations and a partnership with the Kelce brothers’ podcast.
The campaign is designed to stretch across the season rather than peak with a single launch moment, using recurring characters, cliffhangers and a vehicle reveal to keep the story moving.
For Nissan, that means turning one of its longest-running football platforms into something closer to a comedy series than an ad campaign.
And for Tebow, Hunter and Henry, apparently winning a Heisman was only the beginning.
