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In 2007 Nike celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Air Force 1 with a year-long campaign that brought out nearly 200 iterations of the iconic sneaker, the first $2,000 version of the AF1, and a modern update to the model in the Nike Basketball category – the Air Force 25.
Following the blueprint from the debut of the Nike Air Force 1, the brand tapped its top NBA athletes for the new campaign that included LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Paul Pierce, and Rasheed Wallace for a 60-second commercial. Produced by Wieden + Kennedy, the spot featured the NBA greats in a pick-up game that took place in an airport hangar with the athletes decked out in flight suits reminiscent of the 1983 photoshoot.
The inspiration came from the 1983 campaign dubbed “The Original Six” that showcased the first Nike athletes that endorsed the Nike Air Force 1 that include Moses Malone, Calvin Natt, Jamaal Wilkes, Bobby Jones, Michael Cooper, and Mychal Thompson.
The advertisement was one piece of a huge multi-channel campaign by Nike that included TV spots on sports outlets like ESPN, cultural outlets like MTV and BET, a specially designed website, offline activations that included events, text messages, and full spreads in countless magazines.
Tapping into the culture was a focal point by Nike with the Air Force 1 25th Anniversary campaign along with Air Force 25. For the commercial, an exclusive track produced by Just Blaze with vocals by Juelz Santana put this one in the history books as one of the most memorable sneaker spots ever made.
