Heat set to debut final uniform of Vice campaign — ‘a permanent part of the Heat DNA’
The fifth and final uniform of the Miami Heat’s popular Vice campaign is coach Erik Spoelstra’s favorite.
“I think this last version of it is the best version,” Spoelstra said. “Each year when they come with a new one, you’re like ‘Oh, they can’t top what they did last year.’ You wish they could just keep on going. I just think the Vice thing fits Miami for many reasons, obviously, and our players have really enjoyed it. It’s good to have some fun with the uniforms.”
The finale of the Vice campaign, the “ViceVersa” City Edition uniform, was unveiled on Dec. 1. But the Heat will wear the uniform in a game for the first time in Monday’s matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat will also play on the new “ViceVersa” Vice court for the first time Monday, which was designed to match the Heat’s final Vice uniform.
“It has been a lot of fun,” Spoelstra said of the colorful campaign. “I don’t know how many head coaches actually care about that. But it has been fun from the perspective of the interest. I know for gifts for my family, it’s always the Vice stuff. They can’t get enough of it. It’s cool going around town and seeing the different variations of Vice gear out there.”
The “ViceVersa” uniform, which features a gradient pattern of Vice colors, “honors Heat history, with traces of previous Vice uniforms featured throughout. ViceVersa also leverages the uniform’s unique design via illusions, mirroring and reflections. The uniform celebrates the pink and blue gradient, which has been a staple in all of the previous Vice campaigns,” the team said in a December press release.
The “ViceVersa” uniform also brings a new color to the Vice look that the Heat is calling “Vice Violet,” which appears at the middle of the gradient where the blue gale and laser fuchsia meet. “Vice Violet” is the signature color of the “ViceVersa” campaign.
“I think the uniform is really pretty,” Heat rookie Precious Achiuwa said. “I like the mix of the colors. Over the years, you watch guys like D-Wade and all those guys even last year wear those jerseys, and it’s just a lot of excitement on days those jerseys are worn.”
The Heat’s Vice campaign began with the white Vice uniform in the 2017-18 season. Then there was the black “Vice Nights” uniform that was released early in the 2018-19 season, and that was followed by the introduction of the laser fuchsia “Sunset Vice” uniform later that same season. It continued last season with the launch of the blue gale” “ViceWave” uniform and ends this season with the “ViceVersa” look.
The revenue from Vice jersey sales over the past three seasons is five times more than the revenue from Heat jersey sales during the organization’s three championship seasons, according to the team. The Heat has sold more than 120,000 Vice jerseys from their team store and website since the campaign launched in 2017.
“It puts a lot of pressure on us,” Jennifer Alvarez, the Heat’s vice president of creative and digital marketing, said of the campaign’s success. “From probably the day after we launched the original Vice, effective immediately was the panic about where do you go from there. How do you top it the next year? Rinse and repeat for the following year, rinse and repeat the same anxiety for the following year, and then you sort of just know that you have an obligation to do it right and to be just as bold and have everyone feel as excited about each release as they need to be and as we want them to be.”
The Heat is scheduled to wear the “ViceVersa” uniform 11 times during the first half of the regular season: Monday vs. Thunder, Wednesday vs. Boston Celtics, Jan. 20 at Toronto Raptors in Tampa, Jan. 23 at Brooklyn Nets, Jan. 28 vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Jan. 30 vs. Sacramento Kings, Feb. 9 vs. New York Knicks, Feb. 11 at Houston Rockets, Feb. 17 at Golden State Warriors, Feb. 20 at Los Angeles Lakers, and Feb. 24 vs. Raptors.
The schedule for the second half of the season will be released toward the end of the first half of the schedule.
“How it looks, the colors, the fresh new looks. Just the colors popping out,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said when asked what he likes most about the new Vice jerseys. “People around the world are asking for those jerseys and I think they’re something special.”
While the Vice campaign will end with “ViceVersa,” the Heat’s hope and plan is to keep its Vice jerseys in the rotation for future seasons.
“I think we are surprised at how quickly it became a permanent part of the Heat DNA,” Alvarez said. “Before we launched the original Vice uniform, we knew we loved it. We saw samples of it, we thought it was a great uniform. Then it wasn’t until we photographed the players in it, we shoot an intro video and we start to see all the creatives come together in which we were about to release it to the world. When I had it all laid out in front of me, I realized: ‘Oh my God, something very big is about to happen for our brand.’ It was at that exact moment, where I thought: ‘Holy [cow]. Here we go.’ Then fast forward to now, for this to be the fourth year of that same story line that we’re exploring and the appetite is still there.”
▪ Heat veteran guard Avery Bradley missed Sunday’s practice because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols related to COVID-19. But Bradley, who was listed as questionable on the injury report because of a stomach illness, will be available for Monday’s game against the Thunder.
The Thunder have ruled out Trevor Ariza (not with team), Ty Jerome (left ankle sprain) and Aleksej Pokusevski (concussion protocols) for Monday’s game.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 10:47 AM.
