'47 Hits the Road for a Game of Pool to Launch Its 'Everyday' Collection

Americana musings from director Nicolas Maggio

Cue the intense Americana and prepare to play some pool.

Nicholas Maggio directed the short film below for ’47, staging an unusual billiards showdown in a dusty desert dive to introduce the apparel brand’s “Everyday” collection.

“Story arc, narrative and setting are crucial to everything we do,” ’47 VP of marketing Patrick Cassidy tells Muse. “The product is meant to be a natural fit within that universe we have been creating brick by brick over the last 12-15 months.”

“The task here was to answer the question: ‘How do you launch a new, premium T-shirt and fleece franchise in a world-building way?”

Kudos for the rich visual storytelling, punctuated by neat touches—like the music booming and fading as our hero exists his car. There’s no hard sell or even any dialogue, just road-trip imagery that floats in the heat and tricky shots (in terms of both camerawork and pool). Some might expect a bigger payoff at the end. But this tale’s more about dressing for the trip than savoring the destination. And the dude got to keep his $20. There’s that, too.

The work marks ’47’s latest culturally attuned effort. Others include a collegiate collab with New Parke and its high-profile Philly bakery takeover timed to MLB’s All Star Game.

In an experiential vein, on Sept 13, ’47 will host a “come as you are” takeover at Ave Bar in NYC’s East Village. The event culminates with a 7 p.m. watch party for the Giants vs. Cowboys game.

Below, Cassidy explains ’47’s evolving strategy and explains how the fresh work was born.

What’s the genesis of the story?

This is a very important product launch for ’47’s portfolio. It is deserving of a strategic full-funnel marketing experience for the consumer that runs the gamut of touch points, from brand storytelling to educational content to media and activation over a sustained period of time. It all starts for us though with this brand-led, hero film. We wanted to tell a social-first, rich story in a compact amount of time that has an arc, a sense of place and emotional stakes, and where the characters happen to make what might be traditionally thought as ordinary—a t-shirt and hood—look effortlessly cool.

With that in mind, we sought out a director who has his own rich experience in that exact type of creative and visual style we were looking for—Nicholas Maggio. We had been tracking Nicholas’ work for a long time and felt like this was the perfect time to work with him. Nicholas got the vision right away and we built this story together.

How is this different from past efforts? New emphasis? New target audience?

Over our almost 80 years as a brand, our reputation has primarily been centered on the excellence we have built in headwear. Over the years though, our expertise in apparel design and development has evolved aggressively and the Everyday Tee and Fleece are the premiere examples of what we can do. To that end, in this campaign, Everyday deserves to stand alone. It might be the first time ever that there intentionally is not a ’47 hat to be seen anywhere in the content. We believe that the Everyday product is that strong.

When people see the work, what’s their big takeaway?

Our goal when someone encounters ’47, either through content or activation, is always the same. For those that already know and love us, let’s continue to surprise them with how we show up and the stories that we tell. For those we are meeting for the first time, let’s make a great first impression and bring them into our world.

How does the hero spot fit in?

For this film and campaign, as a brand known for its pride and in its Boston roots, we hope that an unexpected desert setting grabs the viewer from the jump, and that they are immediately pulled into this story of two characters who are clearly on a collision course. And yes, at the end of the day, we want people to take notice of how great this product looks and moves on the main characters.

That location looks pretty authentic.

We shot it at an old movie set in the desert that had a decidedly classic Americana aesthetic to it, located an hour or so north of Los Angeles. It was shot partway through the summer. So it was brutally hot on set and air conditioning was basically non-existent. Tim Murphy, who plays the father, was the real MVP. He was in his Dallas Cowboys Everyday hood the entire time. And no matter how hot it got on the pool hall set, the guy never even broke a sweat.

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