Source: NEW BALANCE AND JADEN SMITH LAUNCH NEW FOOTWEAR COLLABORATION
Willow just dropped details on her collab with Onitsuka Tiger; and not to be outdone Jaden and New Balance collide to create a vegan friendly sneaker for the Icon emcee and actor.
But… This wouldn’t be an arch-usa.com post if I didn’t delve beyond the surface of this influencer collab and call attention to the fact that the last three press releases on notable collabs by New Balance has been with Black athletes and entertainers. As much as I admire the work done to create a vegan friendly footwear release with Jaden Smith:
and as much as I love that New Balance took a high school athlete, gave him an internship that still allowed him to train and be drafted into the NBA with Darius Bazley… These two things are marketing related and they both benefit the brand and these moves extend the ability for the brand to reach a consumer demographic they’ve had difficulty locking down.
While I admire the work taking place at New Balance in retail concepts and with their international work in challenging adidas in soccer through sponsorships and their work with Sadio Mane, these are similar strategies to Nike in aligning with athletes to utilize sport as a connection to the consumer.
I have to state that each of these rollouts is dope in their own unique way, but what is doper is following Nike’s statements and donations in a vocal manner with website statements and actions that are in the public eye.
This post is not a hit on the brand. As I could have simply showed the pictures above, in three different posts and discussed those drops on an individual basis. I could have played around with the discussion on Willow vs Jaden and dropped funny pictures of their mom and dad’s Red Table Talk on Entanglements (see what I did there?), but it’s critical that when I share information on these brands that I give you food for thought before you make a decision to take your dollar and spend it.
Has New Balance been quietly working in the background?
Yes
I e-mailed a director to ask what has been done to counter social injustice and if anything has been worked on that directly helps the Black community. Here is the response:
A 10,000 pair donation was made in dedication to Ahmaud Arbery to black community programs in the ATL area and Brunswick. Additional donations have been made to various foundations via the NB Foundation. Those donations support a variety of programs.
These are okay gestures, but as I’ve researched the site I’ve found donations and support for COVID-19, LGTBQ (GLSEN) and medical heroes. Nothing in direct support of a Black focused group.
To be fair before all of the recent protests began I wrote about this in 2018:
BUUUTTTTTT, Since then the president of New Balance has openly showed his support of a presidential administration hell bent on dividing this country through hateful and harmful rhetoric. I mean Jim Davis was kicking it with Mike Pence, a guy completely against LGBTQ+ people and he is a part of an administration that won’t even state Black Lives Matter:
.@VP Mike Pence's motorcade leaving Boston. Our videographer was told Pence was viewing New Balance owner Jim Davis's private car collection in Brighton on North Beacon St. pic.twitter.com/pbwDXQh5P4
— AndreaWBZ (@AndreaWBZ) November 7, 2019
It doesn’t make me feel good to write this knowing that it could bring heat onto any Black employees inside of the company. However, imagine working at New Balance or being an endorser and being Black or gay, or trans, or Brown and having to sit in a meeting and listen to a President who has donated over 400,000 dollars to the most divisive presidency in the last 50 years.
The dope ass work being done by people and being sold by Black endorsers creates one hell of a paradox doesn’t it? I want to celebrate a Jaden Smith vegan sneaker drop that is sustainable and I want to discuss that New Balance is smart enough to do what Under Armour has failed to do by expanding the footprint of basketball by utilizing more than one face for the product. I want to focus on Mane being an amazing international ambassador, but when I need to look at New Balance’s President and his actions and find a counterbalance. I mean look at these two posts on New Balance’s Twitter feed:
Not just words, but peaceful action.
Sign the petition: https://t.co/HQC38srL1G pic.twitter.com/91p9UjEnx1
— New Balance (@newbalance) May 30, 2020
A first step.#GlobalRunningDay #AhmaudArbery #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/0Hi7oSg2gF
— New Balance (@newbalance) June 3, 2020
I can, and I am going through every shoe brand to find their statements and their actions. New Balance is showing ally traits. They created one of the Blackest Black History collections in recent years. They’ve donated money to Black programs, but always in the back of my mind is if I worked for the brand I have to understand that the President is consistently throwing in my face his support of a prejudiced, racist presidency and vice presidency.
I need help to understand this. I need dialogue.