eBay delivered a Christmas sneaker surprise – a virtual holiday drop, launching in partnership with NBA champion and sneakerhead Anthony Davis.
eBay’s “Santa Sneaker Drop” kicked off with a digital short featuring Santa himself asking Davis for an assist delivering this season’s hottest collectible kicks. As the story goes, Davis ran into some trouble handling the sleigh, and when he swerved mid-flight, more than 500 pairs of the most coveted sneakers fell off the sleigh and scattered across the country.
To make things right, Davis partnered with eBay to turn the dropped sneakers into a holiday sneaker drop – all in AR (augmented reality) for sneakerheads to post up and play. The virtual event allowed people to score one of 500 pairs of kicks – including the Air Jordan 1 Travis Scott, the Nike Air Max 97 Sean Wotherspoon and even the Jordan 1 Off-White Chicago.
“I never imagined having a chance to team up with the greatest big man of all time, and I’m grateful that eBay has given me this once in a lifetime opportunity to work with Santa this holiday,” said NBA star Anthony Davis. “Sneakers are at the top of millions of wish lists this year, and we’re hoping to make holiday dreams come true for sneakerheads across the country.”
eBay also teamed up with Soles4Souls to get 40,000 pairs of new athletic sneakers to kids experiencing homelessness in the US. Soles4Souls distributes new shoes to those in need across the country.
“For most kids, having the right sneakers to wear for a game of pickup basketball is a given,” said Buddy Teaster, president and CEO, Soles4Souls. “But that’s not the case when families are struggling with homelessness. We believe every kid deserves to have their basic needs met — including a pair of shoes on their feet. This donation couldn’t come at a better time, and a superstar like Anthony Davis brings a whole new level of awareness to our program.”
Many of the shoes donated by eBay will be given to kids in Davis’ hometown of Chicago and his current town, Los Angeles.
