The premise: A little boy drags his bat, glove and a few baseballs to the local field, gets set to hit a few fungoes from home plate, and announces, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world" before he swings at each toss. He misses -- twice -- but continues to persevere, still proclaiming his greatness for all to hear.
Undaunted, he takes one more shot, and on the third and pivotal toss, when you're expecting the moonshot over the center-field fence, he misses again.
But instead of crying or going home, the boy quickly regroups and gets an even bigger smile on his face.
"I'm the greatest pitcher in the world," he exclaims as Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" plays, presumably signaling the beginning of an entirely new career.
"It was just a fun idea," says Gary Dixon, the foundation's president. "It's somebody feeling that they're failing, and haven't we all felt that way? We all must have failed, and yet with a little perspective, he brightens the moment and surprises you. I've watched it 100 times and it still kind of surprises me."
The message of the ad, which appears on the screen before it fades to black, is "Optimism: Pass it on," and that's one of the many inspirational themes of the Denver-based foundation, which was created in 2000 to "encourage adherence to a set of quality values through personal accountability and by raising the level of expectations of performance of all individuals," according to the foundation's mission statement.
"Through these efforts, the foundation wants to remind individuals they are accountable and empowered with the ability to take responsibility for their lives and to promote a set of values that sees them through their failures and capitalizes on their successes. An individual who takes responsibility for his or her actions will take care of his or her family, job, community, and country."
"Our whole purpose is to promote positive values," Dixon says. "We've identified 52 different values, including integrity, generosity, laughter and optimism, and we're going to keep doing TV ads that exemplify those. We're not done by a long ways."
Dixon said the optimism spot, which is called "The Greatest," was one of three spots of 35 current ones in rotation that hit on a baseball theme.
"When you look at life, how often are you extremely successful at something?" Dixon says. "In baseball, it's such a poignant moment when you're at bat. You have a few 90-plus-mph chances to make something happen, and so I think, in a way, baseball is such a wonderful metaphor for life.
"You have all the challenges, and then you happen to be on stage for a moment when there's nobody looking at anybody except the batter. It's a terrific metaphor to remind everybody that with a little perspective, you can find success in what you're doing.
"Things aren't the end of the world. You didn't get straight A's on your report card, but you were in the game. You were trying. You'll do better next time. And isn't that the baseball way? You'll be better next time."
Dixon said "The Greatest" is connecting with people from all backgrounds and age groups. In fact, data from Nielsen Media Research indicates that the spot has been seen over 83 million times in the last nine weeks.
And the foundation does billboards, too. In fact, one that stood in New York's Times Square featured the late Jackie Robinson under the headline "Character."
"The purposes of the TV spots and the billboard ad is to promote values, but in another way, they give you permission to maybe do things differently, or just to look at things differently," Dixon says.
"If you're stuck in a traffic jam, trying to get in the next lane, and nobody's letting you in, eventually somebody lets you in. You appreciate that, so you let the next guy in. And that's what we mean by 'pass it on.'"
Dixon concludes by saying a spot like "The Greatest" resonates more during baseball season, which might explain why it's so popular.
"People know that when it's 'Strike Three,' you're sitting down," Dixon says. "You've done what you can do. But not in this guy's case. He turns it around. And maybe you can turn some things around in your life that aren't going well.
"We don't think these spots are changing the world or anything, but maybe they're making a little difference out there."
Learn more about the foundation at www.forbetterlife.org.
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