When Nike players played with Product (RED) laces

There are some old images featuring Bono Vox and Didier Drogba together, before they joined a group photo with some of Nike’s top ambassadors from the 2009/10 season — the one that would culminate with the historic World Cup in South Africa — including Marco Materazzi and Andrei Arshavin. In these shots, the two athletes hold the latest versions of the Nike Total 90 and the first Mercurial Superfly with the new Flywire technology and the newly released light blue colorway. But there’s something different about these boots: a red tone that makes them stand out. They feature laces never seen before, branded Product (RED), the non-profit brand that launched the Lace Up. Save Lives campaign to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa, using football as a megaphone. In addition to a launch event with the athletes alongside U2's frontman and co-founder of Product (RED), Bono Vox, and activist Bobby Shriver, Nike and Product (RED) also released a commercial video featuring Javier Mascherano, Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro, Marco Materazzi, Kobe Bryant, and Maria Sharapova. In the video campaign, the laces are, of course, the main focus: the athletes play with them as they wish, and the video concludes with Cannavaro using the laces to outline the silhouette of the African continent, where the AIDS epidemic was taking hold.

The fact is, in addition to the noble mission for which this product was launched — it could be bought at Nike stores for a minimal price of around €5, with all proceeds donated to charity, with Bono Vox's association acting as an intermediary to support the treatment of the less fortunate — the product also became an essential element in the best Nike football boots. The brand, which was probably at the peak of its history, especially in the football boot segment, saw its Mercurial colorways become iconic almost overnight. World-class players like Ibrahimovic, Arshavin, Drogba, and CR7 wore them; at the same time, it was the era when adidas, in response to the success of the Mercurials, launched the F50.i and later the adiZero — iconic images feature Leo Messi and Diego Forlan at the 2010 World Cup, caressing the Jabulani with adidas' most iconic colorways. But for the kids in Italian football schools, buying those red Product (RED) laces to emulate their idols became an instant trend: you can still find videos of those modified Mercurial Superfly boots online.

The brilliant idea behind Product (RED) in its partnership with Nike was to enter the football boot customization market at the same time as Nike launched its first Nike By You program, which allowed users to customize every component from the upper to the soleplate, the swoosh to the laces. Product (RED), of course, wasn’t just a short-lived flash in the pan; that was its first appearance in football, and just a few days ago, it announced a new and short-term partnership with Manchester United: both the men's and women's teams of the Red Devils will wear shirts with the (RED) logo replacing their current commercial sponsor Snapdragon during matches on May 11 against Arsenal and May 10 against West Ham.

In its recent history, Product (RED) has partnered with sports several times, beyond its famous collaboration with Apple, which customizes and continues to customize the backs of certain iPhone models. In 2016, during the Valencia Grand Prix, it was the turn of MotoGP, where riders removed their usual sponsors from their liveries and suits and replaced them with Product (RED) branding. The strength of Product (RED) lies in its ability to integrate as organically as possible into these partnerships, highlighting its products without appearing forced. It would be incredible if Nike brought those all-red laces back to the market, especially at a time when the brand is linked to iconic models like the Total 90 and Ronaldo Nazário's Chrome Mercurials.