Nike AF1

The AF1 is the highest-selling athletic shoe of all time, bringing in an estimated $800 million USD each year in revenue. Considering the shoe is in its 35th year, that’s a rough turnover of $28,000,000,000 (yes that is 28 billion!) since its inception.

Give Me Two Pairs

In 2003 MTV, MTV2 and VH1 collectively banned the video for “Air Force Ones” by St. Louis rapper, Nelly, due to it being deemed too close to an advertisement, given that it included highly excessive product placement. The hook featured Nelly spitting “I said give me two pairs / (cause) I need two pairs / So I can get to stomping in my air force ones / (Big boys) stomping in my air force ones.”

Silver Screen Debut

Having touched on songs featuring the Air Force 1, as well as TV appearances, we should also mention there is an official AF1 documentary. In 2010 Nike commissioned agency 360Creative alongside director Thibaut de Longeville to immortalize the shoe on screen. The film was premiered at NYC’s Apollo Theater in the context of Nike’s first “World Basketball Festival.” The doc was screened at exclusive events across the globe and shown on MTV2 during the network’s 1 Night Only special and presented as a series of episodes on Nike’s dedicated 1Thology website.