Ch. 17 Advertising & Public Relations

The effect that the Jordan Brand has had on the world of advertising is very historical.  One of the most clever ways the Jordan Brand use to advertise their brand was on a TV show called "Fresh Prince Of Bel Air" which starred Will Smith.  In the video above Smith can be seen in a Air Jordan jacket and sneakers.  Also at the end of the video Smith is seen mocking the Jordan Brand with his own line of shoes called the "Air Smiths". This product advertising drew many sneaker fans and fans of the shoe to dress like Will Smith so they would go out and buy thee exact same Air Jordan sweat suit and sneakers he had on.  This advertising technique help Air Jordan sales to reach high level throughout the 90's.  

(Michael Jordan & Spike Lee a.k.a Mars Blackmon)

An advertising campaign that the Jordan Brand still uses is the legendary Mars Blackmon commercial campaign.  It started in the 80's when the Jordan Brand teamed up with Spike Lee to create a character who was Air Jordan crazy.  This character Mars Blackmon would appear in various Air Jordan commercial reciting his classic "do you know" line asking do people know why Michael Jordan was so great.  These commercials would become a fan favorite among Jordan fans. 

Another very clever and smart way the Jordan Brand advertised there Brand was when they teamed up with Looney Tunes stars Bugs Bunny in various commercials (such as one seen above).  As a kid when I seen this commercial I begged my mom to buy me these shoes because Bugs Bunny was wearing them.  Another way the Jordan Brand took advertising to the next level was when they did the movie "Space Jam" with the Looney Tunes. This movies featured Michael Jordan playing basketball with the Looney Tunes while wearing his Air Jordan shoes throughout the movie.  This attracted more demand for the shoes by young children because their favorite cartoon characters were seen playing basketball with their favorite basketball player.

Space Jam 

These days Jordan does very little to any advertising.  Most of the advertising is done by them just releasing photo's and release dates of upcoming shoes and apparel to different sneaker blogs on the internet.  These sneaker blogs are host to millions of sneaker fans who check the sites daily for future shoe updates.  This new form of advertising is great for the Jordan Brand because the demand for the shoe's are at a all time high with fans camping out in front of stores or paying double the retail price for the Air Jordan shoes.