You Got the Love?
Writer / Chiat Day / NYC
Above the Rim was a West coast t-shirt company riding the wave of street culture, who had just gotten their merch on the Duke Blue Devils after they won the NCAA Championship, when Reebok acquired them.
While their product reflected the new style of basketball, Reebok wanted a purer point of view to build their basketball heritage.
Reebok basketball was built around “the pump” (an inflation tool designed to regulate fit), spectacle and humour. Specifically, Slam Dunk Champions Dominique Wilkins, Dee Brown, Sinbad the Comedian for Black Top, their Street ball shoe.
Above the Rim provided the opportunity to establish why people really play basketball.
For the love of the game.
“You Got the Love?” became the question of the day. We partnered our text with the poetic timbre of Laurence Fishburne’s voice, partnered with coaches at the centre or high school basketball in Baltimore and used a facility integral to the grassroots game in the Bronx.
Director: Paula Grief, Editor: Hank Corwin, Voice-over: Laurence Fishburne, Art Director: Kathy Delaney, Writer: Charles Hall
“Tryouts”
Inspired by the legendary workouts of the Dunbar of Baltimore Poets and featuring Charm City’s” great coaches, Pete Pompey and Paul Holmes.
“All-Stars”
In the “Sneaker Wars”, Reebok needed to prove they had great professional athletes too and demonstrate they also possessed cultural authenticity .
Doc Rivers, Reggie Lewis, Greg Anthony, Danny Ainge, Horace Grant, Steve Smith, Dee Brown, Same Perkins, Danny Manning and Dennis Rodman, got together for a little workout at the world famous Goucho's Gym in the Bronx, New York.
Paula Grief brought her gritty, cinematic, realism to the court and Hank Corwin assembled an artistic gem that resonated throughout the game and out of the mouth of the competition.