Outside of a few big time collaborations between brands and celebrities, the hype behind the sneaker game is all but dead and while sneaker aficionados are enjoying being able to finally get pairs of their favorite grails without having to deal with hype beasts and greedy resellers, a new film explores how a few sports marketing teams helped sports footwear became a billion dollar industry.
According to Deadline, a new docuseries dubbed The Sneaker Boom will be exploring how up and coming NBA stars and marketing execs at sneaker brands helped turn a once struggling apparel market into a multi-billion dollar movement that impacted the street culture worldwide and turned helped turn NBA stars into household names at a time when Michael Jordan was dominating all facets of the game.
Brought to us courtesy of Sean Menard, the five-episode docuseries follows the maverick marketing and advertising execs who rolled the dice on NBA rookies who seemed bound to make an impact on the NBA such as Allen “The Answer” Iverson, Grant Hill, Larry “Grandmama” Johnson and Afernee “Penny” Hardaway. While none of these men were able to hoist an Larry O’Brien trophy mainly due to one Michael “Air” Jordan, they’re sneaker lines were huge hits and actually able to stand the test of time, and now we’ll be seeing how exactly marketing execs made that happen.
Per Deadline:
Original interviews and never-seen-before archive footage build the picture, while the title sequence was created by a team of miniature artists, who also created era-accurate boardrooms where brands competed to sign future NBA stars to multi-million dollar contracts.
“We’re thrilled to finally share this series with audiences – starting with my home country of Canada,” said Menard. “Shining a light on the pioneers behind these iconic athletes will hopefully inspire a whole new generation, while offering long-time fans a fresh and nostalgic look at a magical era in sports and culture.”
We wonder if this series will help conjure up interest in their retro sneakers. Sure couldn’t hurt.
Check out the trailer for The Sneaker Boom below and let us know if you’ll be checking it out on the Canadian streaming service Crave this weekend.
