“BACKDOORS”
EDITORIAL PHOTOSHOOT
COLLABORATIVE DELIVERABLE FOR CO-FOUNDED STARTUP
In my time as CMO of FORTYTWO CO, an experimental design company I co-founded as a freshman with two Stanford CS majors, we generated over $488,000 in revenue ($166,000 pure profit). These numbers are a direct translation of my marketing strategy, execution, and management.
Role responsibilities: pre-production, photography, art direction, post-production, crew procurement, location scouting, set design, casting.
The central source material for this campaign (and the entire Footytwo capsule at-large) was the 2015 FIFA corruption scandal that broke loose in FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s final moments in office. The scandal outraged fans worldwide and confirmed long-held suspicions about waning moral efficacy of the governing body of The Beautiful Game.
In an homage/criticism of the scandal, we created multiple spoof materials for our customers - predominantly avid football fans - to enjoy: satirical NYT cartoons, stickers, promotional videos, and photoshoots such as this one.
The concept behind this shoot was to use imagery of casinos, poker, and game rigging to allude to (but not outright point to) the match fixing, hushed corruption, and unfair elections that occurred within FIFA in the 2010s with Blatter’s knowledge and consent.
A personal favorite satire of mine was our rearrangement of the letters that spell FIFA (Federation Internacionale de Football Association) to make IAFF (International Association of Fixed Football). The IAFF symbol is printed on multiple of the garments produced for our FOOTYTWO Capsule Collection.
This was the first photoshoot that I executed where I got to hand-select my secondary photographer and videographer. It was a great opportunity for me to practice judicious portfolio assessment, an experience which helped me strengthen my own portfolio by assuming the role of “client”.