Michael Jordan started his ‘Beyond’ campaign for the Jordan Brand a few months ago. In hopes of keeping the love for basketball ignited in the hearts of the people, the Jordan Brand made a return to the Chicago Bulls legend’s sanctuary, Paris. After earning over $5 billion in revenue in 2022, the organization decided to up the stakes moving forward. The Jordan Brand partnered with Uncommon Creative Studio to make this dream come true. They also joined up with the next generation of Jordan athletes to further build on the campaign with its newest ad.
The Jordan Brand invited local street ballers from Paris and got them together at a recently built basketball court inside a disused bank. The Uncommon Creative Studio posted the video title ‘Dreams’ on social media with the caption, “We created a one of a kind event for @jumpman23’s Beyond – inviting local Parisian streetballers to a reimagined disused bank based in Paris, re-styled to resemble a basketball court, to step up and play with some of Jordan’s most iconic ambassadors.”
The Grammy-winning poet J. Ivy narrated over the video with 5x Grammy winner Robert Glasper providing music. The video showed the aspiring basketball athletes joined by NBA superstars like Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Zion Williamson. As the young All-Stars shoot around with the local hoopers, Michael Jordan, clad in a grey suit, pulls up to the refurbished court. Certainly not an uncommon sight for Parisian locals.
Paris was Michael Jordan’s escape
While this campaign was intended to further elevate the Jordan Brand, His Airness might have lost the place that he loved in the process of building fame and money. Back when Michael Jordan was a star in the NBA, he considered Paris to be a place to escape from the world.
This was before his 1992 Olympic win. In the book ‘Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made,’ David Halberstam wrote, “Michael Jordan had regarded France as a kind of sanctuary, a place where he could vacation and escape the burden of his fame.”
However, his fame since then has skyrocketed, which meant that there was no freedom for him even in Paris. Jordan became one of the biggest celebrities in the world, and there was no place where he could go in peace without being barraged by fans.
What do you think of Michael Jordan’s newest campaign ad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
