For the first time in 17 years, Nike announced it was rereleasing its Air Max 90 “Bacons” — sneakers that were designed to look like bacon — on Air Max Day (March 26, 2021), one of the biggest sneaker drop days of the year. The Air Max 90 “Bacons” are one of the most beloved Air Maxes of all time, so news of their rerelease sent sneakerheads into a frenzy. Sneaker lovers across the United States and around the globe couldn’t wait to get a pair. Suddenly the internet and pop culture were talking about bacon, but they weren’t talking about Oscar Mayer bacon (America’s No. 1 bacon). Oscar Mayer had to change that.

Oscar Mayer couldn’t let a shoe company hog the bacon spotlight, so the brand created the world’s first bacon-scented shoelaces that were literally cold smoked with actual Oscar Mayer Bacon. Then, the limited-edition laces were released on the same day as the Nike Air Max 90 “Bacons” and advertised as the only way to make Air Max 90 “Bacons” smell like real bacon. A single tweet with #OscarCookMyKicks got bacon lovers on the waitlist, then 1,500 lucky consumers got their hands on the Oscar Mayer bacon-scented shoelaces to give their sneakers a fresh-from-the-skillet smell.

For years, Oscar Mayer targeted moms with its meat products, but a brand refresh in 2021 revealed younger consumers, who are significantly more plugged in to popular culture, were the ones buying its products. This necessitated a shift from functional, nutrition-based advertising to messaging that inserted the brand into target-relevant pop culture.

And the new Oscar Mayer target loves big sneaker releases. They pay attention to the latest shoe drops; tune in to the BET Hip Hop Awards featuring the hottest new sneakers; and love celebrities like Kendall Jenner, who is often spotted wearing the latest and greatest of the sneaker world. Once the bacon-scented laces idea was in place, PR mapped out a media blitz across outlets and publications sneakerheads frequent. In addition, targeted outreach to sneakerheads across the country helped build buzz, ultimately resulting in millions clamoring for the Oscar Mayer bacon-scented laces.

Nike announced it was rereleasing the Air Max 90 “Bacons” just three weeks before Air Max Day. With little time to act, Oscar Mayer got to work. In those three weeks, the brand designed, produced and cold smoked 1,500 pairs of shoelaces. To get the smell just right, actual Oscar Mayer bacon was cooked, and the scent was funneled into an infusion chamber where the laces could absorb the aroma.

The day before Air Max Day, the laces were teased on Oscar Mayer’s social channels (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). Then, on Air Max Day, the laces were released with social posts/stories on those same channels. In addition, influential sneakerheads who already talked about the Nike “Bacons” were alerted via tweet and Instagram DM to help drive buzz. Consumers simply had to tweet with #OscarCookMyKicks to grab a spot on the waitlist, and 1,500 lucky bacon lovers got the laces.

Sneakerheads and bacon fans alike couldn’t get enough of the Oscar Mayer bacon-scented shoelaces. The laces generated 657 million earned impressions across 416 earned placements including Hypebeast, Men’s Health, CBS, NBC and Fox News. The launch tweet alone garnered over 4.1 million impressions. Over 64,000 pairs of laces were requested, but only 1,500 consumers got them. The scarcity created a secondary market on eBay, where the limited-edition laces were sold for upward of $70.

But perhaps the best result of all was getting a shout-out from the original designer of the Air Max 90 “Bacons,” sneaker legend Dave Ortiz. Ortiz said, “I never once thought of the idea of scented laces, OMG brilliant. I’m so beside myself … you guys get a big hats off.”