RUN THE BACK MIRACLE
Wieden+Kennedy
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When Michelob ULTRA and Wieden+Kennedy set out to honor the legendary 1980 “Miracle on Ice”, the goal wasn’t just another retelling– it was to bring the audience back in time to relive one of the greatest moments in sports history.
As the lead Production partner behind the show, Pretty Damn Sweet transformed the historic Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid into a one-night-only immersive experience that invited audiences back to 1980 to relive the Miracle on Ice.
More than a hockey game, the Miracle was a defining cultural moment. Facing impossible odds, the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union before ultimately capturing Olympic Gold. More than four decades later, the story remains one of belief, perseverance, and the power of the unexpected.
At the center of Run Back the Miracle was a technical challenge unlike anything we’d attempted before: recreating the game itself as life-sized holograms on the ice.
Using the original broadcast footage, our team tracked the players, sticks and puck movement from key moments throughout the game before digitally reconstructing the action in Unreal Engine. The resulting holographic athletes were projected onto the largest custom manufactured hologauze installation ever created, stretching goal-to-goal across the arena where history originally unfolded.
The experience extended far beyond the game.
Working alongside the International Olympic Committee and our friends at Philamedia, we helped craft an immersive documentary featuring recently discovered, never-before-seen film from the 1980 Winter Olympics. Captured with remarkable clarity and cinematic beauty, the footage revealed intimate moments from the tournament unlike anything previously available to the public.
Surrounded by large-scale projection, spatial audio, historical photography, motion graphics, and immersive storytelling, audiences were transported back into one of the most emotional moments in American sports history.
The experience culminated with appearances from Mark Johnson, Jim Craig, and Mike Eruzione, alongside a holographic recreation of legendary coach Herb Brooks, developed in collaboration with his son Dan Brooks. Narrated by Al Michaels and incorporating original radio commentary from Sandy Caligiore, the show blended historical authenticity with modern immersive technology to create something entirely new.
A story everyone knows, experienced in a way no one had ever done before or even knew was possible.
