Michelob ULTRA is ready to release the most exclusive method to celebrate the 2022 NBA Finals. For the second year in a row, Michelob ULTRA enlisted the help of sneaker legend Tinker Hatfield to create limited-edition NBA Championship Bottles that residents of the winning city can only obtain.
Michelob ULTRA – the MVP of joy – celebrates 75 years of NBA culture by giving San Francisco and Boston fans the chance to win the ultimate “W” if their team wins the 2022 NBA Finals.
When the final buzzer sounds, 75 limited-edition NBA Championship Bottles will be unlocked in and only in the city of the winning team, allowing 75 lucky fans to unbox a piece of NBA history along with the limited-edition bottle, these lucky fans will also receive a one-of-a-kind NFT designed by Tinker Hatfield and digitally autographed by him.
Larger-than-life “shoebox” style boxes with scannable QR codes will be dumped in favorite bars along the probable championship parade route in San Francisco and Boston. To enter, scan the code.
If your team wins, winners will be notified on parade day, and the bottles will be unboxed exclusively at spots along the parade route. Winners will get their limited-edition bottle in the mail, allowing them to celebrate their victory with the rest of the city.
The 2022 Michelob ULTRA Championship Bottle, like many Tinker designs, has motifs inspired by two of the designer’s greatest loves, sneakers, and basketball, featuring The 75th NBA Anniversary logo, which serves as a commemorative marker for 75 years of NBA history. The NBA Championship ring is also front-and-center on the bottle as an ode to the victorious squad, with floater texture, as found on some of the most legendary basketball shoes, acting as the premium bottle’s backdrop. Along the sides are handwritten Tinker quotations such as “Players Make Plays” and “Teams Win Championships.” The bottle bears Tinker Hatfield’s famous handwritten signature, making it a one-of-a-kind treasure.
Speaking with The SOURCE, Tinker Hatfield details designed for the bottle, a bit of sneaker culture, what to expect in the Finals, and more.
The SOURCE: What made Michelob Ultra a perfect partner for you headed into this season?
I think that their attitude is just joyful and about having fun. It’s like an action drink, it’s lighthearted and I think their attitude is just tremendous. And of course their support for, in, for the NBA as they’re right up there with the biggest sponsors. So they are really helping the sport of basketball.
To celebrate the end of this season, you and Michelob are dropping limited edition championship bottles. You are the goat designer in sneakers and basketball culture as a whole and you have used a range of endless materials and concepts. How did you decide what you wanted to put into the design of this bottle?
You know I’ve been around basketball a long time. I’ve also been around sports a long time and I think that I was looking for ways to redesign the bottle, just to sort of celebrating what it’s like to be part of a team that wins something. And I even put on the bottle this year “players make plays, teams win championships.” I think there’s something really great about the game of basketball and the NBA. I think that works well for storytelling and then contributing to the design of the bottle that is connected to the whole thing.
I agree with you on that teamwork element. You just mentioned how long you’ve been around the game, but designing a shoe and some of the other pieces that you’ve done is a little bit different from designing a bottle. How did you adjust your talents to the task that was laid out in front of you?
You know, I’m actually an architect and I am a closet musician and I try to do a lot of other things. I’ve designed motorcycles and done a concept car. I think that the way to kind of get an idea is to find out what the right criteria are for the creation. With a basketball player, you just go talk to him and if you play the game, then you understand more about what they’re doing. I think that’s true for designing anything. A mug or a car or a motorcycle.
To tap into your sneaker expertise. We’ve seen a ton of new sneakers and of course, with your position in Nike, there’s been a lot that just graced the court this season. Was there anything that specifically stood out to you or things that you would like to see more in the future?
The market’s very crowded, and of course, Nike occupies a big portion of that as does the Jordan Brand. And we’re happy to see a consistent performance there. But I do think that Nike is the most capable of all the companies doing something unique. And I think that there is a time when we should be looking to break some rules and kind of almost getting out of a rut if you will. I think that there can be such a thing as a design rut and you just need to be able to get out. I think Nike’s ready and Jordan Brand too, is ready to pick up the technology even more and improve and make some bigger swings at the fence.
