AriZona Ice Team NYC pop ups
Popular ice tea brand AriZona is back collaborating after a successful campaign in 2018 which saw the pair team up to open a pop up store entitled “Great Buy 99” on 43 Crosby St. New York City. The name was derived from the price slogan on the brand’s beloved 24oz cans. The concept was simple. Produce a capsule which included Themed jackets, hoodies, button-downs, headwear alongside Zippo lighters and scented air fresheners with the help of Nike. All of which would be available at a 99 cent price point, staying true to the name of the store.
The most coveted of items from the capsule were undoubtedly the three pairs of bespoke Air Jordan 1s made in collaboration with Relevant Customs. Getting hold of the pairs was much more luck than judgement. As the first 50 customers daily would be given tickets for a chance to purchase the kicks – only six lucky recipients will get their hands on them, 1 person per day. Well fast forward a year and AriZona Ice Tea are at it again but this time it’s an AriZona x Adidas collaboration making the headlines.
Teaming up with Adidas Originals, AriZona Ice Tea are following a similar formula in 2019. Only difference being this time out the New York-based beverage company are retailing the capsule at $1. With the product line including four trainers – two variations on the Adidas 80 Continental and two colourways for the Adidas Yung-1. All sharing the brands signature colour scheme, cherry blossoms, and geometric shapes and stripes. In addition to various logo hits throughout.
AriZona x Adidas pop up shutdown by NYPD
Following concerns as a result of what AriZona called “overwhelming demand”. The NYPD made the decision to shutdown the AriZona x Adidas pop up store, sighting safety concerns as the main reason for this decision. Fans has reportedly showed up at the store 12 hours before the pop-up was supposed to open with some beginning to push each other in line two hours before the event’s opening time. Patches of the crowd became hostile when they found out they may not be getting into the shop, prompting violence from some customers. A 15-year-old male and a 17-year-old female were reportedly assaulted while waiting in line. Two males were also taken into custody in a separate incident, with charges pending, according to police.
In a statement AriZona thanked their loyal fans that came out to support their partnership with Adidas. Going on to sincerely apologise to all the fans that waited in line claiming that they are actively working to remedy the situation.
Crowd trouble embedded in hype culture?
Unfortunately the exclusive nature of many of the campaigns and resulting releases that are common place in the trainer world have bred an unfortunate undercurrent of violence within the scene. Exclusivity ultimately in a lot of cases leads to frenzy. That frenzy leads to mass hysteria, and crowd trouble ensues. As soon as you put a “first come first serve” style component to a drop people are naturally going to battle to be first. With the lengths to which people are willing to go in a lot of cases are unbelievably shocking.
Reports of people being pepper sprayed, trampled, and generally assaulted just as they battle to be first through a shop fronts doors are common place. Not to mention the market values of these exclusive pairs. Which have lead to a scare number of reports of robberies and murders where offenders literally steal the shoes off people’s feet. Trainers, whether we like it or not, are now a highly trade-able and valuable commodity. The more limited a release is, the more desperate people are going to be in pursuit of online trainers. I don’t think you can blame brands for the violence, but the violence is definitely facilitated by the circumstances of every release.