Virgin America's First Class Shoe isn't just some plain old sneaker.
Hand crafted in Milan, Italy, this snazzy high-top was assembled to reflect the amenities of Virgin's first-class cabins. White leather. Wifi. Mood lighting. Video display. USB phone charger. Stainless-steel airline-style belt buckle. It's all there! (Too bad the shoes can't buckle themselves.)
"We really wanted to give people the chance to experience what it's like to fly Virgin's first class cabin with both feet still on the ground," says Mike McKay, chief creative officer at ad agency Eleven. "We spent almost eight months with Virgin America designing and executing the First Class Shoe. First, we looked at what was currently going on with wearable technology, and there didn't seem to be a shoe that could deliver this level of technology."
Here's a video explaining this promotional flight of fancy:
"The biggest challenge was finding components that were small enough to be built into the shoe," says McKay. "The cell phone charger, the video monitor and the wifi hotspot all had to be very small and lightweight enough for the shoe to be wearable and comfortable."
Because if you pay almost $100,000 to buy the world's only pair—yes, they made only one—you'd wear 'em on your morning run, right? Or maybe to soccer practice?
The shoe is being auctioned off on eBay. The current bid is $98,600. There have been 112 bids so far, and the auction ends on Sunday. Proceeds benefit Soles4Souls, a nonprofit that distributes shoes and clothing to those in need.
Hey, maybe it's time for original Virgin pilot and uber-moneybags Richard Branson to step up with a bid and launch this cause marketing/earned-media play into the stratosphere!
Now, let's bring this post in for a landing with a GIF that shows the First Class Shoe playing Virgin's loopy passenger-safety video. (Party on, flying nun!)
CREDITS
Virgin America First Class Shoe
Agency: Eleven, Inc.
Chief Creative Officer: Mike McKay
Creative Director: Ricard Valero, Chad Leitz
Design and Manufacturing: Rob Heppler, Searchndesign (Italy)
Sr. Copywriter: Jon Korn
Sr. Art Director: Jeremy Diessner
Social Copywriter: Julie Blakley
Social Art Director: Jacob Hellstrom
Producer: Calvin Wan
Project Management: Monique Verrier
Creative Technologist: Anderson Oliveira
Editor: Chris Caceres
Activation Strategy Director: Fiona Su
Social Media Strategist: Jessica Gast
Account Management: Lily Byrne, Lizzie Imboden