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Mayor Brandon Scott is among prominent Baltimoreans featured in a video celebrating the 40th anniversary of Nike’s Air Force 1 sneakers and the city’s connection to the shoe.
Scott was not paid for the video, which he shared from his Instagram — and later deleted, according to a spokeswoman.
Text featured in the video’s first few seconds said it was presented by DTLR and Nike Air; it is still featured on the sneaker company’s Instagram page and the pages of other local influencers who appeared alongside the Democrat in the video.
DTLR, which has a corporate office in Hanover and was purchased last year by a British company, produced the video to celebrate the sneaker’s anniversary, Scott spokeswoman Monica Lewis said in a statement.
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The company said the video was not intended as an endorsement or commercial, but a chance for Scott and other Baltimoreans “to speak to the cultural significance of a brand that has identified with Black and Brown people.” The video also features Lawrence Burney, a reporter at The Baltimore Banner.
“DTLR greatly appreciates Mayor Brandon Scott’s willingness to share his thoughts on what the sneaker culture has meant to him and those in his community,” DTLR spokeswoman Kerry Owens said in a statement. “We are proud of the final product as it depicts a young man from Baltimore speaking to his personal experience.”
Nike did not respond to a request for comment. As the company tells it, Baltimore played a pivotal role in maintaining the production of Air Force 1s.
The sneakers were set to sunset in 1984, two years after hitting the market, but Baltimore buyers were so hungry for them that local shoe store owners personally appealed to the then-CEO to keep producing the shoes, according to a comic on Nike’s website, which mentions the now-closed Cinderella Shoes in Park Heights.
“We are who we are,” the mayor says in a voice-over, during a brief shot of him gazing down at an Air Force 1 sneaker in his hands. “We’re not gonna change, we’re gonna be who we be.”
The video, one in a series shared by the mayor on Friday night, was deleted after The Baltimore Banner sent a list of questions about the post to the mayor’s communications director on Monday. The Banner has screenshots of the post, as well as photographs shared to his account’s “stories,” which automatically expire after 24 hours.
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His caption began “Baltimore started it, the legacy kept it hot, forreal...” before tagging other local talent and influencers featured in the video. DTLR edited the caption of their video post on Monday afternoon to remove mention of the mayor.
Lewis said that he intended to appear in the video in a personal capacity.
“The mayor was not compensated nor did he receive any merchandise for his appearance in this documentary, which was described as an artistic project celebrating the 40th anniversary of the brand as well as Baltimore’s impact on the shoe brand’s popularity in communities across the country,” she wrote in an email.
She said his post was deleted out of an abundance of caution and to avoid further distractions from DTLR’s project “as well as the very important work that needs to be done here.”
Lewis added that Scott enjoys a wonderful working relationship with Under Armour, an athletic-wear brand that is headquartered in Baltimore. “Anyone who knows Mayor Scott is well aware of his support of and appreciation for all that Under Armour means to the City of Baltimore,” she wrote.
J. Christoph Amberger, the director of the Baltimore City Ethics board, said there are no specific sections of the city’s ethics code that mention whether an elected official can appear in an advertisement or branded content.
“That is really a case-by-case analysis. There’s a number of provisions in the ethics law that could be implicated,” he said.
Amberger said he could not say whether the ethics board, which has the authority to investigate City Hall officials, is looking into the post.
emily.sullivan@thebaltimorebanner.com
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Emily Sullivan covers Baltimore City Hall. She joined the Banner after three years at WYPR, where she won multiple awards for her radio stories on city politics and culture. She previously reported for NPR’s national airwaves, focusing on business news and breaking news.
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