KMART recently premiered a commercial that launches its exclusive arrangement with Protege, a brand new shoe brand created with NBA star Al Harrington. The spot was directed by Justin Leibow of Superfad for Agency Draftfcb and features Harrington presenting the philosophical ingredients that make up his new, high performance basketball line at an accessible price point. To view: www.superfad.com.

Protege was designed so that basketball players of all ages and income levels can have high quality, top of the line shoes just like the pros wear. Retailing for $34.99, the shoes rival those at 3-4 times the price and are personally wore on-court by Harrington and other major players.

To approach the commercial launch of this unique line for retailer Kmart, Superfad started with the premise that the shoes are an authentic expression of their origin. Accordingly, the spot combines live action sequences of Harrington both on court with him presenting photo-real animated elements that deftly coming together to create the Protege.

The Protege begins as reflection of Harrington’s upbringing, drawing upon hundreds of details frame-by-frame, moment-by-moment, culminating in the shoe that can take your game wherever you want to go.

“It was important that even in surreal moments everything feels authentic and organic to reflect the bold offerings of Protege via KMART,” says Superfad Director/Creative Director Justin Leibow. “Up until this point, this level of shoe was beyond the means of millions of kids who love basketball and just want to play. So it was inspiring to be involved with the agency on a brand that is based on a positive ideology.”

Protege’s launch jumped from Al’s hand to the keen eye of the audience with movement, style and heart on February 15.

CREDITS
Agency: Draftfcb
SVP, Group Executive Producer: Chris Bing SVP, Group Creative Director: Janet Barker-Evans VP Creative Director: Greg Akouris Senior Copywriter: Brian King

Production Company: Superfad
EP: Kevin Batten
Producer: Danielle Hazan
Director/ CD: Justin Leibow
Designers: Justin Leibow, Adam Greene
3d Animator: Damon Snyder
3d Animator: Fatt Moley
3d Animator: Sunny Chan
3d Animator: Kimberly Im
3d Animator: Tim Katawaki
2D Animator: Claudia Leon
2D Animator: Justin Leibow
2D Animator: Sandy Chang
Compositor: Shawn Berry, William Campbell Flame Artist: John Shirley

Editorial: Cosmo Street
Editor: Adrienne Gitz
Producer: Shada Shariatzadeh

Music and Sound Design: Human

Mix and sound design: Eleven Sound
Mixer: Jeff Payne

RELATED LINKS
www.superfad.com