As an NFL quarterback, Aaron Rodgers possesses many skills: running out of the pocket, ball control, signal calling, and in his latest venture, creating comfortable dress shoes. Not all four-time MVP QBs can go without day jobs, you know.
Los Angeles-based creative agency Bacon & Eggs Media has partnered with Amberjack, the shoe brand that makes comfortable but stylish dress shoes for men. The two made a campaign featuring Aaron Rodgers to show the meticulous game plans that go into making the world’s most comfortable shoe. Rodgers, a long-time fan and consumer of Amberjack shoes, is channeling his leadership methods from the field by bringing them into the Amberjack HQ.
In this The Office style spot, Aaron’s football methods are slightly becoming an annoyance in the process of creating new shoes with Amberjack. The Bacon & Eggs team wanted to play off of the headlines from earlier this year of Rodgers attending a complete darkness retreat in order to gain clarity on where he would play football this season. In the spot, the team is asked if the company should lead with the top-of-the-line insole or outsole features, and Rodgers asks for his co-worker to turn off the lights so he can clearly make a decision. The lights flash on and off and other employees roll their eyes at the inconvenience.
“We wanted to make sure we tied in some pop-culture headlines about Aaron when we wrote this script so it would fit him, rather than creating a new character for him to play in an office setting,” says Kia Zomorrodi, CCO at Bacon & Eggs Media. “When I brought up the idea of mentioning the ayahuasca and darkness retreats, Aaron said, ‘What if I said the lines and then put on this darkness mask that I brought?’ He was totally on board for the jokes.”
Behind the scenes, the Bacon & Eggs and Amberjack teams credit Rodgers for his creative chops. Since the campaign was uniquely scripted around his personality and experiences, the humor was easy to extract and made for an interesting campaign.
“Our goal was to create a campaign that could balance humor and storytelling, in a way that works with Aaron’s style,” says John Peters, Founder and CEO of Amberjack. “We had worked with Bacon & Eggs before and thought they would be the perfect partner to create the campaign in a fun and informational way.”
This campaign is inspired by the This is SportsCenter ads, and was shot with the brand’s comfort, innovation, sustainability, and style in mind while highlighting that even a professional athlete chooses to wear these shoes on his days off. How did this young start-up brand get a guy like Aaron Rodgers?
“As I have gotten older, I want to be a part of brands that have a similar focus and views on life and doing good in the world,” says Aaron Rodger, New York Jets Quarterback. “Every time we talked there was more conversation around sustainability, materials, and innovation, and the more excited I got about doing something that nobody has done in this space before.”
The football star wants to help Amberjack grow as a leader in the industry, create jobs, source sustainable materials, and elevate a product that stands up to the scrutiny of fast fashion. But also, of course, make funny ads.
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