Sightings: Protege X Al Harrington X KMart
I’m a shoe snob. I’ve got the t-shirt to prove it. I saw this commercial and I had mixed feelings. Its the Knicks Al Harrington promoting what he touts as an affordable, weather resistant, high-performance basketball shoe. My initial thoughts were along the lines of And1 and Shaqs, but I’m curious about its quality. At $34.99 and made only available at KMart, I’m admittedly a little skeptical. But apparently, “You don’t need money to play this game, you need shoes.” -Al Harrington. Read more for screeenshots and more details.
“Protege, the new line of basketball shoes and apparel created and worn by New York Knicks player Al Harrington, is now available exclusively at Kmart. The line will be introduced nationally this weekend via a new, fully integrated, multi-media campaign from Draftfcb Chicago. The high-quality, high-performance basketball shoe is only $34.99 for men and $27.99 for kids.” -MSNBC
Apparently, Draftfcb is going all out with the marketing for the effort, making the kicks impossible to miss. THe ad campaign was on full blast during the NBA All-Star game and Harrington is dropping quotables like, “I made it…for US” and “..its about dropping dimes, not dollars.” We’ll see who listens.
The launch effort, called “Meet My Protégé,” includes TV, out-of-home, online, mobile initiatives and dynamically inserted in-game ads on “Guitar Hero” and “NBA Live.” The campaign kicks off with a TV spot to be aired on TNT during the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 15, followed by a launch event in the game’s host city, Phoenix, Ariz. Out-of-home elements include branded subway trains, urban panels, billboards and 100-foot tall tower banners on Madison Square Garden in New York, as well as large-scale video projections on the sides of buildings in Phoenix throughout the NBA All-Star Weekend…
…After the initial launch, the TV spot will air on networks targeting young adults such as BET, G4, Fuse, Adult Swim, MTV2, CW and also during NBA programming and games on TNT throughout the month of March. Online presence will include Web sites such as BET.com, MTV.com and MySpace.”
Bravo on the sentiment Al, even though I feel And1 beat you to the punch. Only time will tell if the Nike/Addidas/Reebok machine can be stopped.
Draftfcb Ad Campaign- Meet My Protege
12 Comments, Comment or Ping
danny
I got my protege sneakers already. And WOW! They are awesome! Look out nike. Its about time there’s a quality comfortable stylish sneaker at an affordable price unlike like And1 and those crap starburrys. I was so fed up with overpriced nike/adidas/reeboks and am so thankfull for this new hot protege brand. Protege is truly a brand name and cares about the costomer. So rok those proteges! Plus they have an awesome website protegemvp.com
Feb 16th, 2009
Teech
Which ones did you get?
Feb 16th, 2009
phillip
can i please design you next shoe
Feb 19th, 2009
phillip
i really want to start my own brand, but i like the protege’ logo! we don’t kmarts in our area, because i want the white w/orange sole pair 9.5.
i’m manor(austin), texas
Feb 19th, 2009
Q
If you don’t have a Kmart in your area, these hot kicks, along with a bunch of other great styles are available on Kmart.com!!
I got mine on Wednesday after ordering on their site, and they performed well on the court.
Kudos to Kmart.
Feb 20th, 2009
Steve
Got my pair (stackjacks-black,navy, orange)….. Absolutely love them….. Been ballin in nikes my whole life and never bought shoes @ kmart so I was skeptical. The advertising finally got me inside of Kmart and thank god…… I walked out with the shoes, the protege orange basic game shorts, and a shirt as well and I’m extremely amazed bybthe quality of this line…… The shorts are more comfortable than my jumpman shorts!!!! I’m so happy that Al is behind this line and I encourage everyone to at least try these kicks..for $34.99 how can u go wrong???? I hope this line takes off cause I think there are a lot of kids, and adults for that matter who don’t have means to blow $160 on shoes. Good job A.H. thanks for giving back!!!!!
Feb 21st, 2009
Nelson Graham
dude i need to buy a pair of these lyk right now, can someone email me the link for online purpose, lyk rightnow? and the different designs. dudes i mean today, right now, this would really help man! seriously
Mar 23rd, 2009
Nelson Graham
online purchase………..srry, i want to buy these kicks now!
Mar 23rd, 2009
Teech
http://protegemvp.com/
Mar 23rd, 2009
ted
these joints are trash like wth who would rock these joints these are the most embarrasing sneakers to come out next to the pro keds and starburry these will never touch nike
Mar 27th, 2009
kathy
I think people are missing the point. Protege is not trying to stop Nike/Adidas/Reebok. Protege is trying to give the American people options with quality and style. And you must admit it is much needed in a time like this. This is a great idea and I am grateful that Protege was created. It’s hard to continuously buy shoes especially for growing boys with difficult taste.
Good job Protege!!
Apr 19th, 2009
khriz
i love this shoes so much i bought ma sencond pair in a week ..they have great comfort on and off the court.
Mar 27th, 2010
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