Air Jordan is undoubtedly one of the biggest brands in the world of sports. And, having recently recorded $5,000,000,000 in revenue, it’s safe to say their journey has been nothing but spectacular. The brand, fashioned in the image of Michael Jordan, started establishing itself in pop culture from 1991 onwards and one of the major reasons for its rise is Spike Lee. The legendary director helped make one of Nike’s most iconic advertisements. And, as he recently reflected at the Cannes Film Festival, both he and the company found great success because of their partnership in 1991.
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Lee rose to fame with his character Mars Blackmon. The quirky fan of the New York Knicks was known for his sporty fashion. In particular, his Air Jordan shoes, which were popularized in the now-infamous “It’s gotta be the shoes” campaign. The very campaign, Spike Lee directed himself.
Spike Lee propelled both his career and MJ’s Jordan Brand to new heights with his ad campaign
Spike Lee was recently presented with the Creative Maker of the Year Award at the Cannes Film Festival. It was a huge honor, one that paid testament to his work as a director. A career that he admitted would not have kicked off if it weren’t for his work with Michael Jordan.
As he revealed, his work on the ad campaign “It’s gotta be the shoes” is what helped his career blow up. He described how partnering with Nike, Michael Jordan, and eventually, the Jordan Brand was a blessing. And, how the success of the commercial on a global scale left him shocked.
“At the time, Michael Jordan had not seen a film nor knew what one was. They could easily have found some big-time director, but Mike agreed to it, and it blew Nike up. That started my relationship with Nike and Brand Jordan. Looking back, it was a blessing that this whole thing happened.”
Following the success of the campaign, Lee went on to achieve great things, much like MJ. The cultural significance of the advertisement is still felt even to this day. In many ways, it is considered the origin of sneaker culture and is still looked back upon fondly by many sneakerheads, even to this day.
This wasn’t his only contribution to his industry though. His work thus far has explored several concepts including race relations, the issues of the African-American community, as well as urban crime and poverty among others.
Spike Lee had a playful rivalry with Michael Jordan thanks to his love for the New York Knicks
Having spent his entire playing career in the Eastern Conference, Michael Jordan was the bane of several top teams. One of them was the New York Knicks. His Airness was responsible for knocking out and embarrassing the Knicks on numerous occasions and this obviously peeved his good friend Spike Lee.
Seeing as Lee is a diehard Knicks fan, he developed a playful rivalry with MJ. One that has withstood the test of time and is still referenced to this day.
To this day, through thick and thin Spike Lee still supports his Knicks. And, while he has not had much to be happy about, he is certainly grateful he does not need to see Jordan at Madison Square Garden anymore.
