Social media was flooded with rumors in May 2024 surrounding Roger Federer potentially ending his association with On. However, the Swiss legend put an end to those baseless claims by highlighting the athleisure brand’s latest collaboration on his personal social media accounts on Thursday.
Word on the street is that Club Fed cashed out his ON shares. It will be interesting to see what his involvement moving forward will be, as well as what ON’s involvement in tennis will be.
— Craig Shapiro (@Cshaptennispod) May 4, 2024
Roger Federer declared that Hollywood star Zendaya is On Running’s newest brand ambassador. By supposedly playing a huge role in landing one of the biggest names in entertainment, Federer squashed all rumors attacking his loyalty to the sports apparel company.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion made this announcement by amusingly using a reference from the 2024 Zendaya-starrer, Challengers. In one particular scene, Zendaya was seen wearing white with a serious expression, trying to look beyond her sunglasses while watching a tennis match. Federer now did an impressive job by mimicking Zendaya’s expressions for a meme.
It’s On @on_running pic.twitter.com/RVxYqIgbCa
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) June 6, 2024
Apart from social media users finding RF’s method of announcing Zendaya’s inclusion to the family hilarious and witty, they also congratulated the brand for the move. On has also come out with a special 1-minute trailer for the announcement in which Zendaya makes it clear that whether their customers are athletes or not, this brand is for everyone who loves fashion and leisure wear.
Meme-able
— Yozora (@_Mi9ni) June 6, 2024
This brand knows what they are doing
— Double Fault (@DoubleFaultPod) June 6, 2024
The timing of acquiring Zendaya as a brand partner couldn’t have been any better because of the box office success that Challengers witnessed, according to Inquirer.net. Known for constantly partnering with athletes, Roger Federer and On’s peculiar decision should help them gain even more success, in the US market in particular.
The similarities between Roger Federer and Zendaya’s Challengers
The movie Challengers isn’t a story based on any player. However, fans of Roger Federer are likely to believe that the movie was a tribute to him.
The movie’s basic plot is about Zendaya (who plays a former tennis player named Tashi Duncan) coaching her husband, who is a professional player, and a former World No.1 named Art Donaldson. This has been compared by many to a brief stint in Roger’s life as coincidentally his wife, Mirka, is also a former player who coached the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
Other aspects of the movie such as the inclusion of brands like On, Wilson, and Uniqlo as well as the use of the one-handed backhand, all seemed to be inspired by the Swiss legend.
Finally, since Federer also used a popular meme from the movie to reveal Zendaya’s announcement, tennis enthusiasts believe that the movie is a tribute to him. Amidst all these speculations, On is set to benefit the most.
