Reebok Heart over Hype Question Mid
Source: Josh Richardson Is Getting To Know Philly Through Its Residents
Last week I made it a point to actively work to shine a light on smaller brands leading up to the release of the Air Jordan 11 Bred 2019. My status as a small sneaker media company only delivers a handful of views to any company I decide to write about, but I continue to write these articles versus writing what other sites see as the most important sneaker news. If you take a few seconds to visit the most popular websites each site becomes an extension of marketing for Nike and Jordan Brand. This is understandable. The most popular model of shoes arrive from Nike and JB. Nike created the perfect amalgamation of Athlete, Imagery and Reverence (see what I did there? AIR). It becomes easy to celebrate a champion. It’s a bit harder to justify the celebration of a person who never wins it all.
Allen Iverson’s Question arrived at almost the same time as the original Jordan 11. Iverson changed the NBA and ushered in the modern era that has tied basketball to Hip-Hop and that is the funny thing about the connection between Hip-Hop and hoops. Michael Jordan did not like Hip-Hop. He was a jazz and R&B man.
Isn’t that interesting?
Iverson represented everything that we say sneaker culture is, but the most celebrated person is the champion who didn’t like the culture. It creates an interesting dichotomy that isn’t lost on Reebok.
Consider this: on the homepage of every main sneaker website right now Nike has about a 10:1 ratio of articles with adidas. The only site that has diversity is Hypebeast where an arrangement of brands shows up on 12/16 on the homepage. Reebok understands that at this moment the Bred 11 is dominating the story, but it’s not just this moment. Nike and JB consistently dominate which generates a question from me, is sneaker media as helpful as it could be?
What comes first, Jordan Brand being great because of Michael’s greatness, or does the constant coverage of Nike create this greatness? Does Nike sell through because everyone writes and shoots video of the product? I mean… I’m a victim of this on my own YouTube, but there is a difference. I post a sneaker video a day, but I only post what I sell in most instances. There is one difference, in the short time that I’ve been posting sneaker related videos I have a more diverse video portfolio. This is because I will include videos of other brands to disrupt the constant output of additional marketing created for Nike.
Reebok’s version of the Bred is given the name Heart Over Hype. That’s intentional. Iverson played through injury, never had a lineup of all stars around him and although he finally left Philly to try and capture a ring he didn’t do so willingly. Iverson would have stayed in Philly forever. He was the most dynamic player in the league although he was one of the smallest scoring champions and defensive stalwarts to ever lace up a pair of kicks on an NBA court. There was never any hype around AI. He walked into the game and crossed up the king and never looked back. He stepped over Lue in a Finals Game 1 win against a superteam in the Lakers and when the Sixers lost that series anyone who loved basketball felt the pain with Iverson. He was the heart of the game while others were given the accolades. David Stern seemed to hate him and his energy. The streets loved him, and after Michael Jordan stepped away it was AI who helped to steer the game towards the future where the athlete was able to have more of a voice.
Reebok wrote an amazing article about Philly to celebrate AI’s and the city’s heart. Reebok created a video that almost nails this, but the product placement isn’t quite convincing. The monologue and discussion in the video is powerful though. It resonates. It’s a dark, gritty film that relays the working person’s mentality. While I would have most certainly used more of the sounds of the game from Iverson’s time and possibly more AI, the video works. The only unfortunate aspect is hype wins and possibly a different bred sneaker could find itself without an audience, but that’s just how it is… although it really shouldn’t be that way.
The Question Mid Heart over Hype is available Sunday, December 22nd at 11:00 pm CST