adidas To Introduce New TS Supernatural During NBA All-Star Game

Several All-Stars Will Wear New TS Supernatural Shoes At Next Weekend's Game

adidas will introduce the new TS Supernatural shoe at next weekend's NBA All-Star Game in Dallas. NBA All-Stars Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Derrick Rose will wear the shoe, which features the All-Star color scheme of red, white and metallic gold for the Western Conference and blue, white and silver for the Eastern Conference. adidas will also outfit all players participating in the game with uniforms inspired by the city of Dallas and the Texas state flag. The star on the front of the jersey serves to unite the teams, as it forms one star when standing next to each other. The single star is divided into five pieces joining as one, which represents the five players on each team. The print on the back of the jersey mimics the pattern of the Dallas skyline (adidas).

THREE STRIPES: AD AGE's Jeremy Mullman wrote every company "wants its online videos to go viral, but few companies go so far as to actually give consumers an incentive for sharing." However, adidas is "doing exactly that in a highly interactive push to promote its lightest-ever footwear and apparel lines." adidas will air a 30-second spot starring Howard that will "encourage viewers to visit its website and YouTube channel, where they can access more content" featuring Howard. adidas also has created a video of Howard "dunking that shows him jumping as high (or as low) as consumers choose via a gaming-style grid control." A third video allows viewers to watch one of Howard's dunks "from five different angels." Ad agencies 180, L.A., and Riot, Amsterdam, created the effort. A YouTube spokesperson said that adidas is the "first marketer to tie access to content to the number of views a video draws on its service" (ADAGE.com, 2/4).

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: In Dallas, Mark Norris reports "massive images" of NBA players are "on three Dallas skyscrapers." The posters, "each hundreds of feet tall, are being used to promote" the All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium. The "500-foot-plus image" of Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki and Cavaliers F LeBron James on the Bank of America Plaza "could soon hold the Guinness World Record for largest building wrap." Norris notes "more than 125 DART buses will have All-Star ads, both inside and out," while Love Field and Dallas/Ft. Worth Int'l Airport "will have All-Star signs welcoming visitors." Fans will see the signs "everywhere," including in "nine hotels." They also will be "on lampposts in Dallas and Arlington" and "on billboards dotting freeways." It is the "largest signage effort ever by the NBA for an All-Star Game" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/5).