Image via Complex Original
Michael Jordan has been retired from basketball (for good, we think) for nine years now. There are teenagers walking the earth who weren't even born when he won his last title with the Chicago Bulls. Yet his legacy is as strong as ever. And while yes, it is definitely the shoes, the commercials that went with them were just as important. From Mars Blackmon to Shock G to "Umi Says," we take a look back at The 25 Best Air Jordan Commercials of All Time.
25. "Much Respect"
Shoe: Air Jordan XVI
Year: 2001
Let’s not kid ourselves. Michael Jordan isn’t walking through that door. If he did, and deemed our court worthy of his presence, it would be a display of snarling competitiveness distributed evenly amongst men, women, and children. The sick and the elderly could have some too, but they’d have to wait until next run. So yes, it’s pure fantasy. But maybe, just maybe, our common love of the game would allow him to take it easy on us.
24. "Heartbeat"
Shoe: Air Jordan XVII
Year: 2002
There was a time when Michael sold shoes with sidekicks, acrobatics and animation. But by 2002, when he was fruitlessly toiling away for the Washington Wizards, Jordan had become as much a part of the game as the ball itself and the game had become a part of him. The sneakers sold themselves.
23. "Nola"
Shoe: Air Jordan IV
Year: 1989
Has Mars Blackmon ever been properly credited as the nation’s first recognizable sneakerhead? After all, he did utter that famous phrase, “I can accept Michael Jordan stealing my girlfriend, but I can’t accept not trying to get those shoes!” Well, he didn’t actually say that, but you get the point.
22. "The Charles Barkley Show"
22. "The Charles Barkley Show"
Shoe: Air Jordan IX
Year: 1994
Charles was Michael’s opposite in so many ways, but a mutual respect for each other’s style and stature ensured a lasting friendship between the two. Besides, they could never be rivals. Even in retirement, everyone knew Michael was better. So while it wasn’t quite the cultural event of Bird & Magic debuting the Converse Weapons, any chance to get MJ, Chuck & Shock G (really!?) together was greatly appreciated.
21. "Flight School"
21. "Flight School"
Shoe: Air Jordan VI
Year: 1991
Now this was branding. Who else could get their competitors to show such admiration? Actually, how could they not show such admiration? Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, All Star, Dunk Champion, MVP and on the cusp of his first championship. Everyone wanted to be like Mike. These guys were just willing to admit it.
20. "Rockababy"
Year: 1987
Shoe: Air Jordan II
Hip hop was still relatively new and predictably avoided by most major campaigns. Which is why it wouldn’t be long before most major campaigns were in awe of Nike’s success. By recognizing and catering towards a shift in the culture before the rest, Nike became the primary beneficiary of the inextricable marriage between hip hop and basketball. Funny thing is, MJ would probably still rather listen to Anita Baker.
19. "CEO Jordan"
19. "CEO Jordan"
Shoe: Air Jordan XIII
Year: 1998
By the time his second stint as the world’s greatest athlete was finished, Jordan had clearly established himself as a brand. The Jumpman was as recognizable as the Golden Arches. However the idea of such as thing wasn’t as obnoxious back in those days, if only because of the way he went about it. He built his brand on winning and we never wondered what his priorities were.
18. "100-Foot Rim"
Shoe: Air Jordan XI
Year: 1996
It didn’t take much digging to find the metaphor in this one. After returning to the game he loved and tasting defeat in 1995, Jordan clearly had lofty goals for the following season. We even believed he could attain them. The only question was how long would it be until he came down? Oh, and did you see those shoes?
17. "Astronautics"
Shoe: Air Jordan V
Year: 1990
Do you know who has littered the lexicon with more enduring catchphrases than Nike? Do you know? Do you know? Do you know? No one, that’s who.
16. "What If?"
Shoe: Air Jordan VII
Year: 1992
The 1992 season ended with Jordan winning his second consecutive MVP and championship. That summer, he’d headline the Dream Team and solidify his place as the world’s most beloved — and successful — athlete. In fact, aside from Muhammad Ali, this was as beloved and successful as an athlete ever was. But alone in the gym, putting in the work we never see, Jordan tells us he’d be happy just playing the game. It’s simple, clichéd even, but effective. Because we believe him.
15. "Dream"
Shoe: Air Jordan X
Year: 1995
Revisiting the ‘What If?’ scenario three years later, Jordan proposes an even more preposterous idea. “Michael quit basketball? To do what!? And he wasn’t even good at it!?” It was a candid acknowledgement of recent failures and more importantly, proof that he still knew how to poke fun at himself.
14. "Nobody"
Shoe: Air Jordan III
Year: 1988
In the second of Nike’s series of Mars Blackmon spots, we could barely see the shoes, the spokesman barely spoke and you know what? Nobody cared. Mars was that appealing and for once, Michael was happy to take second billing.
13. "Tell Me"
Shoe: Air Jordan XII
Year: 1997
Fresh off the most successful season in NBA history and in the midst of his second (fifth) championship run, it was very clear that Jordan had no challengers. But he always kept an eye out for the slightest hint of motivation. Even if it was just chatter that he’d lost a step. Did he actually dunk that? Was it just studio magic? No one knew, but many of us were willing to believe Michael was able to out of sheer will.
12. "Genie"
Shoe: Air Jordan VI
Year: 1991
After four years of the perfect straight man/hype man relationship, Mike & Mars had essentially become one. So it was only right that in their last commercial together, they did so literally. Little Richard as the genie was just an added bit of genius.
11. "Let Your Game Speak"
Shoe: Air Jordan XX1
Year: 2006
Jordan Brand accomplished the aim of every company. They not only provided their customers with a service, but a way of life. Since their spokesman was an iconic athlete with an impeccable legacy, his shoes would be the standard for excellence as well as style, long after he retired. Michael didn’t have to do anything anymore but sit back and watch.
10. "Hare Jordan II"
Shoe: Air Jordan VIII
Year: 1993
We’ll always prefer Mars to Bugs, but let’s face it, only of them had their commercials turned into a movie.
9. "Maybe It's My Fault"
Shoe: Air Jordan XX3
Year: 2008
Michael’s playing days were long behind him, but his impact on the game remained, and he used this commercial to address everyone. Not just those in his fictitious gym, everyone. Those pretenders who wanted his status, those critics who blamed him for today’s primadonnas, those of us who valued highlights over fundamentals. This wasn’t as motivational as it was simply declarative: “I paid the cost to be the boss. Have you?”
8. "Failure"
Shoes: Air Jordan XII
Year: 1997
Back when we hung on Michael’s every word, these peeks into his psyche were priceless; transformative nuggets of wisdom more valuable than any self-help book. Of course some of them didn’t hold up as well, but 15 years later, this one remains as true as the game itself: If you want to win, you have to be prepared to lose.
7. "What Is Love?"
Shoe: Air Jordan XVIII
Year: 2003
For years, the most anticipated segment of every All Star Game was the debut of the new Air Jordan and its accompanying commercial. Following in that tradition, Jordan Brand aired this three-minute spot during Michael’s final appearance as an All Star in 2003. A fitting tribute, reminding us of Jordan’s unapproachable legend and exactly what drove him to achieve it.
6. "Frozen Moment"
Shoe: Air Jordan XII
Year: 1997
Consistently outdoing themselves, by ’97 Nike successfully elevated their commercials into an art form, few more succinct or memorable than this silent truth: When the ball is in Michael Jordan’s hands, the whole world is watching and time itself seems to stand still.
5. "Banned"
Shoe: Air Jordan 1
Year: 1985
Some guys just have all the luck. The Air Jordan I’s initial black and red colorway didn’t match the rest of the Bulls's shoes, so the NBA banned them, fining Jordan $5,000 a game. Nike happily paid the fines, of course, knowing that putting the league’s most controversial shoe on the league’s most exciting player was priceless.
4. "The Popcorn Tape"
Shoe: Air Jordan IX
Year: 1994
Though he didn’t stay away long, Jordan's first retirement was handled by Nike as creatively as they had anything else. He didn’t even have to play basketball anymore to sell shoes. But what if he was still playing basketball? What if he missed the game as much as we missed him? Nike posed these questions through the same tabloid lens that supposedly drove their pitchman away from the game, and Johnny Kilroy became a household name.
3. "Is It The Shoes?"
Shoes: Air Jordan V
Year: 1990
It was genius. It took the most outdated, ill-conceived concept a sneaker company can push upon the public — Player X gets his powers from these shoes — and turned it into something completely new. How? By coining a catchphrase that would be passed down through generations. Twenty-two years later, people are still asking, “Is it the shoes?”
2. "Hare Jordan"
Shoe: Air Jordan VII
Year: 1992
If any player were to try this today, it would be met with skepticism at best and dismissed for what it was; a shameless cross-promotional money grab, a blatant attempt at branding. But Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny were welcomed into living rooms by children and adults alike because Jordan was Americana; completely woven into our cultural fabric. He dunked, he won and he wore nice shoes. And now he had a new sidekick.
1. "Hang Time"
Shoe: Air Jordan III
Year: 1988
In 1988, the Air Jordan line dropped their most fashion-forward design yet. But all everyone was talking about was the commercial. Nike’s new advertising firm, Wieden & Kennedy, paired up with a young filmmaker named Spike Lee and changed the way sneakers were sold forever. Rather than letting Jordan’s athletic excellence speak for itself, they gave him a hype man; a brash loudmouth kid from Brooklyn, Mars Blackmon. It was different, it was edgy and it was wholly entertaining. It was hip hop. It was the moment Jordans became not only a fashion necessity, but a cultural icon.