K Swiss shoes have always reminded me of the preppies back in high school. They seemed like serious tennis shoes – as in shoes worn for the tennis court as opposed to ones you’d wear hanging out with friends. Which is why when I was forwarded a link to a video of the fictional Kenny Power’s meeting with K Swiss execs, it seemed even funnier. (CAUTION: Not safe for work, around young children and possibly your parents Seriously…lots of swearing…you’ve been warned.)
The juxtaposition of a stogy brand with a modern-day redneck combo Archie Bunker & John Rocker was completely absurd. To me, K Swiss is a brand that is associated with more upper crust sports like tennis, not tractor pulls & demolition derbies. Then I saw the K Swiss banner ad…..DOH!
Kenny “Freakin’” Powers has now become the spokesperson for K Swiss’ latest, greatest training shoe…Tubes. Tubes? Really?
The spots play like one giant spoof, from an out of shape Kenny pitching them to the name (although I have to admit, I do find them funny.) Clearly they are trying to hip themselves up with Millennia & gen Y males, but the big question is: Will it work? Selling Tubes as a legit, high tech trainer with comedy the best route? Or is it too big of a leap? Maybe Kenny Powers will become the Mars Blackmon of K Swiss and we’ll witness the transformation of a brand. Or in the words of Kenny Powers, we’ll “hear the sounds of (K Swiss’s) muscles gettin’ really big.”
