Los Angeles, CA, May 10, 2024—In celebration of their annual festival of the color Grey, New Balance presents Grey Days, a seven-minute film told in seven episodes, each portraying a different aspect of the brand’s history.
UK rapper Dave, NFL star Chase Young, skateboarding legend Andrew Reynolds, and a host of other brand enthusiasts and affiliates (including a number of ‘can you name them all?’ D.C. icons in the roller-rink episode) combine to paint a picture of a company with tentacles that reach deep into a thousand subcultures.
The film takes in the popularity of the brand with different style tribes, the company’s running heritage, its place in DMV folklore, the shoes’ technical prowess and the mythology surrounding the genesis of the iconic 990.
Grey Days acts as a primer to all things New Balance and a series of ‘hands in the air moments’ for those in the know.
We’re transported from baggage reclaim to running track, roller-rink to Japanese onsen, midnight movie to the stunning rockscape of Marseille’s Calanques, and even briefly to outer space, as we encounter the cultural impact of the shoes with different age groups, languages, and even species.
The film, shot and artfully framed in black and white (or is that grey?) 16mm, is the antithesis of the increasingly celebrity-dominated and bells and whistles-laden content we see elsewhere. It opts instead for visual simplicity and natural dialogue as the cast of New Balance lovers and affiliates shoots the breeze about ‘the greys’ in a world that recalls the clarity and cool of early 1990s independent cinema.
The campaign, from American Haiku, was written in collaboration with creative directors Thom Glover and Daniel Wolfe, alongside food and beverage director Elliott Power, and director of photography Norm Li, with perfectly realized 1960s retro animation from Stray and still photography by Samuel Bradley
“This film celebrates not only what Grey means to us as a brand, but also what it means to New Balance consumers. It recognizes sub-cultural New Balance fans who have stood by our brand and the emblem of Grey for generations,” said Chris Davis, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Merchandising at New Balance. “It also recognizes the ubiquity of the color Grey, appealing to people everywhere from supermodels in London, to dads in Ohio, to sneaker connoisseurs in Tokyo. Grey is a color for all that represents authenticity, versatility, and timelessness, carrying our heritage into the future.”
In addition to the full-length film, which will run in theaters and online in the US, the campaign will be released as individual scenes. A 60-second trailer will play in cinemas across the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, and print and out-of-home executions will run across Europe, Asia and in Thrasher magazine in the US.
About American Haiku:
American Haiku is immensely strong and immune to nearly any weapon. The agency of tomorrow – from Brooklyn, New York.
Client: New Balance Campaign: Grey Days Title: Grey Days Agency: American Haiku Executive Creative Director: Thom Glover Creative Director: Ben Muckensturm Executive Producer: Mike Hasinoff
Client: New Balance CMO & Senior Vice President of Merchandising: Chris Davis VP, Global Marketing: Jeff McAdams Global Marketing Director, Lifestyle: Tom Henshaw Global Marketing Director, Brand Strategy & Creative: Chuck Mauro General Manager, NB Numeric: Sebastian Palmer Senior Global Marketing Manager, Collaborations & Energy: Joe Connolly Senior Global Brand Marketing Manager: Sean Sweeney Global Marketing Manager, Athlete Activation: Samia Akbar Global Marketing Manager, NB Numeric: Tyrone Romero Sr. Manager, Global Entertainment Marketing: Kirk Taylor Associate Manager, Global Marketing: Amanda Bauer Global Marketing Associate: Jayson Johnson Production Company: Rascal Executive Creative Director: Daniel Wolfe Food & Beverage Director Elliott Power Producer Sarah Park Director of Photography Norm Li 1st Assistant Director Frank Ferro Stylist Al Rodgers Production Designer Madison Hatch
Production Service Company (France) Shot In Mars Executive Producer Julien Manunta Producer Ilona Tran Stylists Louise Mast & Elsa Manunta Co-Produced by LOVE SONG
Editorial Marsheen Editor Dave Davis Assistant Editors Ian Nabong & Matthew Blackloc Executive Producer Harriet Cawley
Post Production, Color Company 3 Colourist Simon Bourne Senior Colour Producer Chris Anthony
Post Production, VFX Stray Creative Director Dan Williams Creative Director Carl Norton Compositors Steve Miller, Giacomo Verri & Sam Hencher Online Alan Maiden Executive Producer Clare Melia Producer Ellie Georgiou
Post Production, Animation Stray Art Director & Lead Animator Kwok Fung Lam Animator Roly Edwards Music Supervision Curation Music Music Supervisor Sunny Kapoor Music Clearance Connie Edwards
Music (7 Min Film) The Drin “Tigers Cage” Additional score by Miink Music (:60) Roland Alphonso “Determination (Take 2)”
Sound Design & Mix King Lear Music & Sound Sound Designer & Mixer Ed Downham Sound Assistant Ned Sisson Producer Leo Clayton Stills CARTEL and Co. Photographer Samuel Bradley Agent Yoni Ben-Yosef 1st Assistant Stephen Elwyn Smith 2nd Assistant (Baltimore) Rowan Liebrum 2nd Assistant (Marseille) Louise Oates Producer (Marseille) Rachael Evans Retoucher Martim Guerra Silva
Agency American Haiku @american.haiku Executive Creative Director Thom Glover @thomoflondon Creative Director Ben Muckensturm @benmuck Executive Producer Mike Hasinoff @mhasinoff Client New Balance @newbalance @newbalancelifestyle CMO & Senior Vice President of Merchandising Chris Davis VP, Global Marketing Jeff McAdams @jkes0317 Global Marketing Director, Lifestyle Tom Henshaw @tomhenshaw Global Marketing Director, Brand Strategy & Creative Chuck Mauro @chuck_m General Manager, NB Numeric Sebastian Palmer @relishit Senior Global Marketing Manager, Collaborations & Energy Joe Connolly @joeconnolly Senior Global Brand Marketing Manager Sean Sweeney Global Marketing Manager, Athlete Activation Samia Akbar Global Marketing Manager, NB Numeric Tyrone Romero @tyrone.romero Sr. Manager, Global Entertainment Marketing Kirk Taylor @tweezspeaks Associate Manager, Global Marketing Amanda Bauer @amandapbauer Global Marketing Associate Jayson Johnson
Production Company Rascal Executive Creative Director Daniel Wolfe @danieljudewolfe Food & Beverage Director Elliott Power @elliottpower_ Producer Sarah Park @iamspark Director of Photography Norm Li @norm_li 1st Assistant Director Frank Ferro Stylist Al Rodgers Production Designer Madison Hatch @madleehatch
Production Service Company (France) Shot In Mars @shotinmars Executive Producer Julien Manunta Producer Ilona Tran @ilotran Stylists Elsa Manunta & Louise Mast @elsa.et.louise Co-Produced by LOVE SONG @lovesongfilms
Editorial Marsheen @marsheen Editor Dave Davis @dave_davis_ Assistant Editors Ian Nabong & Matthew Blacklock @iannabong @matthewblacklock Executive Producer Harriet Cawley @littleng
Post Production, Color Company 3 @company3 Colourist Simon Bourne Senior Colour Producer Chris Anthony @chrisanthonyproducer
Post Production, VFX Stray @stray.ldn Creative Director Dan Williams @danwynwilliams Creative Director Carl Norton @nortynorton Compositors Steve Miller, Giacomo Verri & Sam Hencher @smiller731 @jhoxwork Online Alan Maiden Executive Producer Clare Melia @meliacl Producer Ellie Georgiou @elliegeorgi0u_
Post Production, Animation Stray @stray.ldn Art Director & Lead Animator Kwok Fung Lam @porkhand Animator Roly Edwards @__roly Music Supervision Curation Music @curation.music Music Supervisor Sunny Kapoor @sunny.kpr Music Clearance Connie Edwards
Music (7 Min Film) The Drin “Tigers Cage” @thedrinband Additional score by Miink @miinksmallclan Music (:60) Roland Alphonso “Determination (Take 2)”
Sound Design & Mix King Lear Music & Sound @kinglearlondon Sound Designer & Mixer Ed Downham @eddieieio Sound Assistant Ned Sisson @sissonned Producer Leo Clayton Stills CARTEL and Co. @cartelandco Photographer Samuel Bradley @samuelbradley Agent Yoni Ben-Yosef @benyosefy 1st Assistant Stephen Elwyn Smith @stephen_elwyn 2nd Assistant (Baltimore) Rowan Liebrum @rowanliebrum 2nd Assistant (Marseille) Louise Oates @_louise_oates_ Producer (Marseille) Rachael Evans @rachael.evans_ Retoucher Martim Guerra Silva @mgspost
2023 Roastbrief is a digital media with global presence that seeks to share knowledge and updates about the creative industry.
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