Jordan Brand History 3--The Start of an Advertising Era

The Air Jordan 3 is one of my personal favorite retros because of how simple it looks. The Air Jordan 3 was the shoe that saved Jordan from leaving Nike. The jordan 3 was the first shoe to use the Jumpman logo on the shoe and have Nike Air on the back. This shoe changed the style of shoes again by adding a visible air bubble, tumbled leather, and the elephant print that Jordan loved. The three's are one of Jordan's personal favorites also. He wore these shoes in many basketball events including the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Competition. The Air Jordan had the best advertising that any shoe company had seen. They enlisted Spike Lee to portray Mars Blackmon ( a character Spike played in his movies) as Mike and Mars. The commercials are still very popular to this day and launched Jordan Brand to new heights.

The Jordan Brand Retro 3 ad with Mars Blackmon (photo courtesty of http://www.air-jordan-release-dates.com/Mars-Blackmon-Air-Jordan-Videos.html)

Spike Lee helped Jordan brand wonders with pushing advertising. He went on to help create and star into many ads for almost all of Jordan's shoes after the three's released. Some complain the ad's were annoying or that Spike Lee had no relatable content with Jordan but, having a major celebrity campaign for a shoe was a big thing and hadn't been done for. The reception for the Jordan 3 was pretty small but not bad for a shoe release at the time. The ad's were very creative and sometimes funny. But, they never failed to mention something Jordan could do that a "average" person couldn't do and always asked the question "Is is the shoes?" creating a hype around the shoe saying a normal person could play like Michael if they purchased the shoes.

The first commercial starring Mars Blackmon and Air Jordan himself.