The rapper's 30-second selfie video commercial might have had the internet in splits, but it has paid its dividends.
Advertisment
Kanye West, the renowned rapper and fashion mogul, took a bold yet unconventional approach during Super Bowl LVIII by promoting his Yeezy fashion line through a humble 30-second advert, purportedly costing him nearly $7 million. West, now legally known as Ye, opted to film the commercial himself using his cell phone camera while seated in the back of a car.
In the ad, West straightforwardly directed viewers to visit his commercial website yeezy.com, emphasising that the commercial was produced without significant expenditure. “Hey y’all, this is Ye, and this is my commercial,” he said. “And since we spent all the money on the commercial spot, we actually – we didn’t spend any money on the actual commercial. But the idea is I want you to go to Yeezy.com.”
That is as Kanye West as it gets.
Despite the glitzy norm of Super Bowl commercials, West's stripped-down approach stood out. Although the advert only aired regionally, its impact rippled globally as it quickly went viral post-game, leaving fans both bewildered and intrigued.
The reaction to the ad was fairly positive and comical on social media. Many fans took to X to express their sheer surprise and pride in what West had done.
West fans share their views on the commercial
The gamble paid dividends for the rapper, as his album soared to the top of Billboard rankings in 100 countries following the Super Bowl advert alone. West's success was further underscored by a recent social media post where he shared a text exchange with his chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos. The exchange revealed a staggering 294,357 orders placed on Yeezy.com, amounting to a substantial sum of $19.3 million.
West's Instagram post
West's unconventional marketing strategy, coupled with the popularity of his brand, evidently struck a chord with consumers, cementing his position as a savvy businessman in both the music and fashion industries.
While the superstar might be rejoicing over his latest success with his album and the sales, he has revealed that he was two months away from bankruptcy, and put everything he had into the album and this advert, as per TMZ.
“I’ma just be honest with y’all: I was two months from going bankrupt and I put everything I had into it and we moved to Italy,” he revealed. “We moved to the factories and we survived. We survived through the cancellation. We back No. 1.”
/afaqs/media/agency_attachments/2024-10-10t065829449z-afaqs_640x480.png)
/afaqs/media/member_avatars/b19bc90752f22463c21493ea40ad04dd26b32ea4045d163717734c0181e00e52.png )
Follow Us/afaqs/media/post_attachments/b0cebde9842ca54ccb65524a4ae3f2e372fc1e058446c8f5a886e436c274d91b.jpg)
/afaqs/media/post_attachments/ed99cdaff23a9486bf281e17b9cbcf6fc050a25014d724293d4d6b11225e04ef.png)
/afaqs/media/post_attachments/151e1ea82170b9016b61b0f50c8f1464c18080e754bed3a30246cd2464d74f04.png)