General Electric, Moon Boots, and Snapchat.
Nov 10, 2014
General Electric, Moon Boots, and Snapchat.
GE is now in the sneaker business.
The company best known for kitchen appliances and light bulbs
has launched a campaign to showcase how it’s material
engineering helped get a man on the moon.
GE developed the silicon used in the space boots worn by Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 crew in 1969.
GE also worked on the helmets that crew members wore.
To honor the 45 year anniversary of the moon landing, GE has partnered with designer Android Homme and online retailer JackThreads.com to sell 100 pairs of replica moon boots.
The stylish shoes will be sold exclusively on JackThreads and will go on sale on June 20th precisely at 4:18pm EST, the exact moment the Apollo 11 module landed on the
surface of the moon.
In another wink to the historical significance, the shoes will be priced at $196.90 to echo the year of the
landing, 1969.
The shoes, called the Missions, will include some of the ‘super
materials’ the GE developed for the mission 45 years ago and examples of that they are working on today.
According to Linda Boff, execuUve director of global brand markeUng at GE, the sneakers will include, “super materials like stabilized carbon fiber and hydrophobic coaUng.” It is their
hope that by including these materials in the shoes, consumers will be able to relate to the high-‐
tech materials GE is developing and producing.
GE also made news merely by announcing the promoUon.
The company, which employs over 300,000 worldwide, debuted the shoes on Snapchat, the of-‐the-‐
moment social app.
GE considers Snapchat an important space for them to inhabit.
Snapchat has a rapidly growing user base, enUced by the erasable,
impermanent nature of its media.
GE can be found on the network @gereralelectric.
The moon shoe campaign will run on Snapchat for one day only, including visuals and music promoUng the sneaker.
GE will also be uUlizing the tradiUonal social media outlets to promote the Snapchat campaign, namely Facebook and Twi]er.
The promoUonal as a whole is very modern and forward thinking —
much like the moon landing was 45 years ago.
A 126-‐year-‐old corporaUon is recreaUng a simultaneously retro and technologically astounding
product and then promoUng it on an ultra-‐current media outlet.