Baseball is still America’s national pastime. One of the most important stars of this beloved sport was Jackie Robinson, who was not only an extraordinary player but also a trailblazer.

Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947: he was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. After retiring, he became a full-fledged leader in the Civil Rights Movement, inspiring future generations to fight for racial equality.

He’s so important that every year on April 15th the Jackie Robinson Day is celebrated. On that day, all players, coaches, and managers in every team, as well as the umpires, wear #42 (Robison’s uniform number) on their jerseys.

2019 is the year of Jackie Robinson's 100th birthday.

In a moment the United States is more divided than ever, the brand wanted to deliver an impactful message about diversity and inclusion by honoring Jackie Robinson’s legacy.

In order to create relevant entertainment for our times, our brand entered the baseball universe and transformed Jackie Robinson’s fight into a campaign to honor his legacy.

The film ‘Rise’ shows the very special promotional item we created: a baseball that embodies the spirit of our campaign. It represents Robinson’s legacy in the sport and in his work with Civil Rights. We see on the baseball his signature, his legendary number, and the coexistence and unity of two parts (reinforced by two different colors - black and white), reminding us of the break of the color barrier in 1947. The stitches that unite the two parts are red, the iconic color of our brand.

The strategy of the campaign was to remind people of the legacy of such an important figure in the history of baseball on his 100th birthday. We wanted to create an icon that would embody the spirit of our campaign and, at the same time, the spirit of Jackie Robinson’s work of breaking diversity and inclusion barriers. The baseball we created and showed in the film 'Rise' is an extremely special promotional item that conveys this impactful message to new generations.

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