John, Damian, and that boy Jrue

Last week Adidas released an advertisement spot for its newest basketball endeavor, the CrazyQuick shoe. The shoe which was released on May 1^st is being promoted by three of the NBA’s brightest, John Wall (Wizards), Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers), and Jrue Holiday (Sixers) with some assistance from hip-hop sensation, A$AP Rocky. 

In short, the advertisement features A$AP stringing together poetic rhymes paired with to instrumentals of his hit song, “Goldie”. During A$AP’s freestyle, he provides us with the “technological truth” of the CrazyQuick shoe while Wall, Lillard, and Holiday play hoops inside of the CrazyQuick shoe demonstrating the quickness that lies within. Personally, I think this advertisement is a brilliant promotion for the Adidas basketball brand as it features three of the NBA’s most talented young athletes as well as one of the hottest rappers at the moment.

Nowadays, any video can become viral thanks to the convenience of sharing on social media, Adidas’ #CrazyQuick promotion has all the right components of a user-friendly commercial: sports, sneakers, and music. This advertisement is unique in the sense that it features a prominent rapper on camera, spitting material specifically related to the product. For a long time now, hip-hop has been an important component of the basketball and sneaker-obsessed culture. This advertisement is able to capitalize on all three of these items in one-46 second spot, helping to communicate with its target audience via A$AP’s melodies.

The timing of this commercial release could not be any better. In January, former number one draft pick, John Wall, moved from Reebok to Adidas to inherit the role as face of its basketball brand. In February, Jrue Holiday was selected to the 2013 NBA All-Star Game. Most recently, this past week, Damian Lillard was named the NBA’s Rookie of the Year. In addition, the release of the CrazyQuick shoe comes just as the NBA Playoffs are heating up. Unfortunately for Adidas, neither Wall’s, Holiday’s, nor Lillard’s team qualified for the playoffs. Nonetheless, the CrazyQuick will continue to receive great exposure during the course of the playoffs.

The CrazyQuick features gradual flex orientation technology that enables maximum forward and backward traction for a quicker-first-step. Meanwhile, the forefoot and midfoot are flexible to allow lateral traction during rapid sideways movement. The CrazyQuick have a price tag of $140.

I will leave you with this insight from Mr. Rocky, “Those kicks made these cats rare. And when you CrazyQuick, man quick ain’t fair”.