Foot Locker has kicked off a new campaign just in time for back-to-school shopping, centered around a two-minute film that highlights the retailer’s role in culture over the decades.
The new “It Always Will Be Foot Locker” spot is both a nostalgic celebration of the brand’s history in sports and music, as well as a look forward to what’s next. Think Moses Malone in white and red Air Force 1 Nikes in the NBA playoffs. Andre Agassi in green and white Stan Smiths at the U.S. Open. Run DMC in adidas Superstars on the streets of Queens. NBA star Larry Johnson dressed as Grandmama on Family Matters wearing black Converse Aero Jams. All the way through to an unreleased pair of Caitlin Clark Nikes.
“When you think about the history of sneaker culture into the future of sneaker culture, we have to play a role in all of that,” said Brett O’Brien, chief marketing officer of Foot Locker. “Which is why you saw a bit of back in the day, some of those nostalgic…and then the spot ends with a Caitlyn Clark shoe, which hasn’t launched yet. That’s that journey of sneaker culture and that emotional connection we have to sneakers.”
Last September, DICK’S Sporting Goods acquired Foot Locker for $2.4 billion. O’Brien joined the brand the following month, after spending 25 years at PepsiCo with a mission to help grow the brand. DICK’S reported that overall net sales rose to $5.17 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, up 62.7 percent from the year before, with the Foot Locker business attributing to $1.8 billion of net sales.
“The thing with Foot Locker is the awareness is incredibly high,” explained O’Brien. “We don’t sell sneakers. It’s a place where people go and they feel something different.”
Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man does the voice over in the new film. The brand chose him as they wanted someone that knew sneaker culture and who represented New York.
“New York is the epicenter of everything we do and where we get so much of our cultural cues,” explained O’Brien. “There is no one more authentic to New York, to sneaker culture and we talked to him and said, would you be interested in doing this? And he said, ‘I love Foot Locker,’”
For Foot Locker, culture is key, but O’Brien said that it has to be done right. “It’s incredibly important for a brand to show up in culture because otherwise, culture is going to move on and your brand will be left behind. And so, how do you continually make sure that you’re doing the right things to not insert yourself in culture, but have culture be an important part of what you’re recognizing and what you’re helping move forward?,” he said.
The retailer’s sales associates play a key role in helping the company show up in culture. Most of these employees are sneakerheads themselves and in the culture, choosing to work at the chain because they hang out there anyway.
“For sneaker culture, a lot of it comes down to, are we giving the consumer the right experience? The Stripers are the No. 1 priority for Foot Locker. It’s the heartbeat of everything we do,” added O’Brien.
The film kicks off an integrated campaign which will run across broadcast, social, digital, out-of-home and in-store. The effort follows Sole Stories, a short-form documentary series that highlights creators and sneaker enthusiasts created in partnership with Hartbeat. Sole Stories will extend the It Always Will Be Foot Locker platform through stories that reinforce that sneaker culture is built as much on personal memories as it is on iconic moments.
