Ever since Lipton's Brisk Iced Tea abandoned its inescapable '90s "That's Brisk, Baby!" ad campaigns from J. Walter Thompson that featured Claymation celebrities, its marketing has focused almost entirely on attracting urban teens by collaborating with street artists. These campaigns have included everything from custom iced tea cans to interactive murals to Brisk Bodega pop-up shops focused on art and music and even a dedicated Tumblr blog.
To help launch one of its newest flavors, Pineapple Passionfruit, Brisk continues its run of urban-themed stunts by going after the trendy and loose-with-cash sneakerhead market.
The PepsiCo-owned brand tapped sneaker artist Dan "Mache" Gamache of Mache Custom Kicks (whose clients include the likes of LeBron James and Kanye West) to design the first-ever Brisk sneakers. But as with Nike's recent Krispy Kreme shoes, Mache will be customizing only a few pairs of the sneakers, as the brand feels that "keeping these kicks super rare taps into the culture of sneaker hunting."
So what goes into a pair of Brisk Pineapple Passionfruit kicks?
It starts with the blue and yellow "Dunk From Above" Jordan IVs (sneakers that already go for $200, which is actually on the low end for a pair of retro Jordans) and after some paint-thinning, airbrushing and a new logo on the tongue, you get something pretty different from the original but still safe enough that sneakerheads won't roast you for stepping out in public in them. After all, you certainly don't want to go viral like what happened with Steph Curry's recent Under Armour shoes.
To give fans an inside look at the design process and inspiration behind the shoes, Brisk made a short video with Mache and the Brisk character featured on the Pineapple Passionfruit packaging, John Juan. It's not that clear why the iced tea flavor needs an animated mascot, or why that would appeal to urban teens, and the video itself comes off as a little corny, but that might be the point?
Mache seems to take his "meeting" with John Juan rather seriously, and the artist even manages to work in a subtle "What are those?!" reference, which in sneaker circles is an inside joke used to poke fun at someone for trying too hard with their footwear selection.
The final results are actually pretty cool—maybe a little loud, but it's the summer and loud shoes have never been a problem for the dedicated sneaker fan. Regardless, it's likely that due to their extremely rare nature, the lucky fans who end up with a pair will most likely show them off as art at home rather than wear them outside and risk a dreaded scuffing.
Sneaker fans looking to get their hands on these will have to enter one of two sweepstakes running from July 7 to Aug. 18. 