What it had to solve
Launch the exclusive fall 2017 Legends Collection with Foot Locker and prove the yellow boot's place in hip-hop history through Nas's personal origin stories.
How it works
Four 60-second animated films by Gentlemen Scholar ran nationally to December 2017 — 'Trumpet', 'Dictionary', 'Fire' and '16 Bars' — supported by custom painted OOH, custom comic books, Foot Locker and Timberland signage, special edition boot boxes, and drops from 30 September to 15 December.
What it did
No results reported. The series tied each of four product drops to a chapter of Nas's origin story, from jazz trumpeter's son to rap legend.
Background
In October 2017, Pereira & O'Dell New York partnered with Nas to launch Timberland's fall 2017 Legends Collection, with animation by Gentlemen Scholar.
The campaign comprised four 60-second animated shorts drawn from Nas's upbringing in Queensbridge, New York: 'Trumpet', on his jazz beginnings with his trumpeter father at age six; 'Dictionary', on reading the dictionary to expand his lyrical vocabulary; 'Fire', on losing his first rap battle to an older girl in the neighbourhood; and '16 Bars', on his first studio session that became his big break. Each film ends with Timberland's classic 6-inch yellow boot morphing into the new Legends model.
The national campaign ran through December 2017, pairing each story with a staggered exclusive drop — the Volume VII FlyRoam Sport Hiker (30 September), Volume VIII 6-Inch Premium Strap Boot (21 October), Volume IX 6-Inch Field Boot with Velvet Collar (24 November) and Volume X 6-Inch Premium Boot (15 December) — plus custom painted OOH, comic books, in-store signage and special edition boot boxes.
Why it lands
Nas's credibility converts the boot from fashion item to hip-hop artefact, told in his own voice.
The morphing-boot ending makes every story land on product without a hard sell.
Staggering four drops across four story chapters turns a seasonal campaign into a months-long collecting ritual.
What you can take
When a product has decades of cultural history, let an icon narrate their own origin story — then peg each chapter to a drop.
Since then
The campaign ran nationally through December 2017 with all four drops completed. No sales or engagement figures were reported.
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