words // Zack Schlemmer
Martin Luther King Jr. day has now past, but we can celebrate and practice his vision of racial equality all year, every year. Up today are three spots from Spike Lee and Nike's "Live Together, Play Together" ad campaign for the Nike Air Raid. The Air Raid, designed by Tinker Hatfield, was Nike's first basketball shoe marketed for streetball and is more or less a tougher, outdoor version of the Air Jordan VIII. The Air Raid II would later follow, adorned with peace signs and multi-colored designs much like the basketball court in these ads (and looked even more like the Air Jordan VIII), but here we see the basic black and grey colorway of the original Air Raid.
In these three commercials from 1992 you'll see Spike teaching opposing black and white players to "Live Together, Play Together" after hurling racial stereotypes (donut dunking?) at each other, Tim Hardaway and his classic "I got skeels!" line, and a lesson in trash talking.
Peace!
