STRICTLY ON BACKGROUND, PT. 63: AIME LEON DORE NEW BALANCE COMMERCIAL

My second commercial was shot on May 8, 2024, only the sixth gig since the end of the writers and actors strikes last year. At least it provided me three different opportunities to be seen, although it helps to hit pause on two of them.

Before going on, perhaps it's necessary to explain just what Aime Leon Dore is. According to Currant Magazine, Aimé Leon Dore was founded in 2014 by Teddy Santis, who, without any background in fashion, started an urban menswear line in Queens, New York. With his Greek background, his love for 90s hiphop and urban culture, he created a streetwear line that would later be known as an elevated and urban preppy streetwear brand. 

Of course, it didn't stop me from
modeling one of his caps.

The closest I am to "urban" is living in Manhattan. And as for preppy, all you need to know is that I look terrible in Polo shirts. So naturally I would be cast in an Aime Leon Dore commercial... as a bodega customer, wedding guest, and some guy watching a pick-up basketball game. Anything but "urban preppy". Otherwise, nobody would buy his stuff.

All of my scenes were shot in the West Village within blocks of each other, from 10:30 a.m. to 8:40 p.m. on a beautiful spring day. The background was mostly young, hip people, with a handful of geezers like me. We provided "color", I suppose, while the kids were what were supposed to bring the customers. And for what the New Balance sneakers are going for, I hope they have well-paying jobs.

The first scene we filmed was at the West 4th Street Courts, where three of us old folks watched a pick-up basketball game featuring players from their 20s to early 50s. It was far more fun and exciting than the few Knicks game I caught at Madison Square Garden in the past. The guys were giving it all they had; I often had to duck as the ball went flying toward us. I can be seen -- barely -- a few different times here. This was two hours well spent, and one of the most fun gigs I've had that didn't involve mid-century wardrobe.

I had better luck in the wedding scene. The a.d. told the "guests" to go over the top in our glee, and by God over the top I went, throwing confetti like I was being paid to -- which, as I think about it, I was. Not much else to say, other than it was filmed at a church whose name I can't recall, and that this was a good-looking couple. And, brother, they knew it.

The final scene we shot, which comes earlier than the other two in the final cut, was filmed in a bodega. We're all pretending to watch something on the store's TV. I thought it was supposed to be a game, but in the finished product it was an Aime commercial. I'm in the back row, third from the left, wearing the Aime Dore Leon baseball cap. The guy in the white AIME jacket in the middle reacts strongly to the commercial, while we respond with a subtle side-eye. Mine is so subtle that it doesn't look I'm doing anything unless you look really carefully. Not that you'd necessarily want to.

And no, I wasn't allowed to keep the Aime Dore Leon hat.

                                                                         **********

The commercial as it's seen on YouTube: