Hybrid sports-fashion trainer brand K-Swiss has signed up fouled mouthed former baseball star Kenny Powers as a new brand ambassador. However the challenger brand isn’t quite stepping up to the baseball star sponsorship status of rivals adidas and Nike because Kenny is a fictional TV ball player.
He is one of the lead characters in the HBO show Eastbound and Down. Acted by comic star Danny McBride, former pitcher Powers doesn’t just have the pull of the small screen on his side. Indeed he has the wider comic circuit and associated platforms to work with – indeed he recently featured on Will Ferrell’s own star-site Funny Or Die.
Primarily using digital channels and viral videos, the pitcher turned pitch man is pushing K-Swiss’ latest ‘Tubes’ athletic range. Powers joins MMA star Urijah Faber, New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis in a series of TV and online clips.
Ads track Powers’ rise from ball player to K-Swiss corporate titan as the fictional player (who publicly boasts of his love of coke and hookers) and now shoe endorser eventually completes a hostile takeover off the brand itself.
Comment:
Originally K-Swiss was a somewhat gentler, more tennis focused brand. But in recent years it has tried to move further into the urban street wear space and this move is a further sign of its changing image and direction.
This kind of campaign aims to evolve the brand’s long held image and reach out towards a grittier urban marketplace.
But quite how this more mainstream and foul-mouthed comic approach dovetails with some of the brand’s previous niche, rebel work remains to be seen.
Links:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/634f52e7d2/kenny-powers-the-k-swiss-mfceo-uncensored
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