Sunderland AFC x Elvis Presley – Are we falling love with this shirt collab?

There’s been a lot of online conversation come out over the latest Sunderland AFC away jersey and their official collaboration with the Elvis Presley estate. A bold move and certainly a bold design choice. Here’s our first thoughts and impressions.

1. The concept
A Win – we applaud the club for pursuing and delivering creative collaborations and campaigns of this ambition. Especially once that built on authentic club and fan culture. Which this certainly is. 🏆

2. The Jersey
A Draw – There’s a lot of people out there saying they’re really happy with it and it looks better in real life. Our gut reaction is one of uncertainty. While again we admire the ambition and confidence to do something different, there’s a feeling that it doesn’t quite stick the landing. Suggestions of it being a dart shirt populate the socials, and that’s a gut reaction we also get. But as we have said, Sunderland’s team should absolutely be applauded for their commitment to the concept and making it happen.

3. The campaign
A Draw – Overall we like it. It’s clearly been a thorough rollout of the product, it’s supporting activations and collateral. There’s almost a cartoonish look to some of the typography which is no doubt a nod to the Elvis sleeve covers etc, but it’s also true that it’s got an almost Simpsons aesthetic. We’d have been curious to see a
more slick, serious, beautiful approach.

Overall, Sunderland AFC should be applauded for their confidence and commitment to delivering the campaign. As you can see, there’s a lot of good work here. And we salute them for that.