Description
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.
This professional campaign titled 'Grey Days' was published in United States in May, 2024. It was created for the brand: New Balance, by ad agency: American Haiku. This Digital and Direct media campaign is related to the Fashion and Sportswear industries and contains 7 media assets. It was submitted 6 months ago.
Credits
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
