The team launched the throwback line with a Toyota-backed social media blitz. But the team also threw a block party, because that’s what Philly did then and continues to do now. It’s important to the team to remain true to the city’s culture, which is why it’s also launching a Kelly Green streetwear line with Philly native and JSP founder Jimmy Gorecki.
“We’ve been celebrating Kelly Green as a sub-brand for a long time,” said Jen Kavanagh, the Eagles’ svp of media and marketing. “Fans have been showing up on game day and their Kelly Green attire for many years—they’re big fans of nostalgia and that era.”
Embracing an era
The ‘90s hold a unique place in the history of the Seattle Seahawks as well. Though the team only managed two winning seasons and one playoff appearance during that decade in the AFC West, their years in bright blue and green with a Coast Salish-inspired bird on their helmet coincided with an iconic era in the city’s history.
Microsoft was booming in Redmond, Starbucks was growing into a coffee powerhouse. and yet the city’s most popular export was the scruffy, flannel-clad, fuzz-emitting metal-punk hybrid bands of the grunge movement.
Seahawks marketers saw an opportunity to reward longtime fans who remember the ‘90s as a time when Microsoft’s Paul Allen bought the team and began building it into an eventual Super Bowl champion. They also wanted to appeal to younger fans obsessed with the era and its aesthetic, as well as football fans nationwide looking for a second team to watch on Sundays.