When Adidas announced a creative partnership with Bad Bunny in March 2021, the sneaker world paid attention. But nobody predicted just how far that partnership would travel. In four years, Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, a kid from Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, became the most culturally significant collaborator in Adidas’ current roster, helping a struggling German sportswear giant rebuild brand heat at exactly the moment it needed it most.
The numbers are hard to ignore. Every Bad Bunny Adidas drop sells out instantly. Resale prices on the Forum Buckle Low Easter Egg hit $560 per pair, making it the most hyped non-Yeezy Adidas sneaker in StockX history. The 2023 Coachella Campus Experience achieved a 98.5% sell-through rate. And when Bad Bunny wore his first signature Adidas sneaker, the BadBo 1.0, during Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, Launchmetrics reported $1.6 million in media impact value within hours. Adidas also saw a 20% jump in brand searches immediately after the performance.
This wasn’t just about sneakers. It was about Adidas finally understanding that Latin culture had gone global, and that partnering with its most visible artist could deliver audiences that traditional sportswear marketing had never reached. For Bad Bunny, it was a platform to represent Puerto Rico at the highest level of global commerce. For Adidas, it was a lifeline during one of the company’s most turbulent chapters.
Why Adidas needed Bad Bunny in 2021
The Yeezy crisis and the hunt for new heat
By early 2021, Adidas was already showing cracks in its collaborations strategy. The Yeezy partnership with Kanye West was still generating revenue but growing increasingly complicated. When that relationship finally collapsed in October 2022 following West’s antisemitic remarks, Adidas faced a $1.3 billion revenue hole and a brand heat problem it had no immediate answer for.
CEO Bjorn Gulden, who joined in January 2023, was blunt about the challenge. He publicly called out collaborations including Bad Bunny as essential to rebuilding brand heat, stating the company needed time to transition from Yeezy dependency to a diversified partnership portfolio. Bad Bunny had already been in the fold since 2021 but suddenly became far more strategically critical than anyone anticipated when the Yeezy plug was pulled.
Strategic context making Bad Bunny essential:
- Yeezy revenue gap: $1.3 billion annual revenue loss needed replacement from culturally credible sources
- Youth alienation: Adidas losing ground to Nike and New Balance among Gen Z sneaker consumers
- Latin market underserved: Latin America revenue growing 21.6% in 2023, needing culturally authentic faces
- Originals repositioning: Brand needed lifestyle credibility beyond performance to compete in fashion-forward sneaker space
- North America weakness: Sales fell 16.1% in 2023 in currency-neutral terms, requiring fresh cultural relevance
Bad Bunny brought something no other collaborator could offer. He was simultaneously the world’s most-streamed artist on Spotify for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, 2022) while maintaining authentic street credibility. His fans didn’t just listen to his music, they followed his fashion choices, bought his merchandise, and viewed his aesthetic decisions as cultural direction. That made him not just a celebrity endorser but a genuine tastemaker with proven commercial pull.
The post-Yeezy blueprint Adidas was building
Gulden’s strategy for Adidas’ recovery centered on “local relevance becoming more important than global relevance.” This was a direct response to Yeezy’s failure: one globally dominant collaboration had nearly destroyed the company when it collapsed. The solution was portfolio diversification with multiple culturally specific partnerships rather than dependence on one single personality.
Bad Bunny fit perfectly into this framework. He was massive in Latin markets, significant in North America, and growing rapidly in Europe and Asia through music streaming. Unlike Yeezy, his brand was built on joy, creativity, and cultural pride. The risk profile was fundamentally different, making him a more sustainable long-term partner.
Elements making Bad Bunny a better strategic fit:
- Cultural specificity: Deeply embedded in Latin culture gave Adidas authentic access to demographic it had never properly reached
- Positive brand values: Bad Bunny’s image built on creativity, Puerto Rican pride, and inclusivity aligned with Adidas’ positioning
- Multi-market reach: Dominated Latin America and US Hispanic markets while building global profile through mainstream music
- Lower risk profile: No history of public controversy making partnership sustainable through multiple product cycles
- Creative investment: Hands-on design involvement meant products reflected genuine artistic vision rather than a licensed celebrity name
Adidas also committed charitable components to every Bad Bunny initiative from the beginning, pledging shoes for low-income communities with each product launch. This social responsibility element strengthened Bad Bunny’s willingness to invest creatively in the partnership rather than treating it as pure commercial transaction.
The drops that made sneaker culture pay attention
Forum Buckle Low: Most hyped non-Yeezy Adidas in StockX history
March 2021’s inaugural Bad Bunny x Adidas Forum Buckle Low “First Cafe” drop immediately proved the partnership’s commercial power. Released at $160 retail, the coffee-inspired brown colorway sold out globally within minutes. Within days it was trading at multiples of retail on StockX, making it the most hyped non-Yeezy Adidas release in the platform’s history. Nothing in Adidas’ portfolio outside Yeezy had generated that level of secondary market demand in years.
The design itself told a story. Bad Bunny took the classic 1984 Adidas Forum basketball silhouette and added removable buckle straps, his distinctive “El Ojo” (third eye) logo on the tongue, “Yo Visto Asi” (I Dress This Way) on the strap interior, and a circular window in the outsole revealing his Bad Bunny logo. Every element communicated cultural identity rather than generic celebrity aesthetics.
Drop performance across colorways:
- First Cafe (March 2021): Instant sellout, most hyped non-Yeezy Adidas on StockX with secondary prices at multiples of retail
- Easter Egg Pink (April 2021): Average resale price hit $560, generating $400 gross profit per pair on secondary market
- Triple Black (August 2021): Continued sellout momentum despite being third colorway in five months
- Blue Tint: Friends-and-family exclusivity drove speculation and desirability beyond standard limited releases
- Forum Buckle Low overall: Proved Bad Bunny could drive consistent demand across multiple colorways not just single hero release
The Forum Buckle Low achieved something brands spend decades attempting: collectible status. Unlike typical celebrity sneakers that depreciate rapidly, Bad Bunny x Adidas releases consistently appreciated on secondary markets, indicating genuine demand rather than manufactured hype.
From sneakers to full cultural ecosystem
The partnership expanded rapidly beyond the Forum Buckle Low into multiple Adidas silhouettes and apparel. The Gazelle Indoor collaboration modernized a 1966 classic with new materials and Bad Bunny’s aesthetic. The Response CL featured melted design elements reflecting his experimental approach to footwear. Each release demonstrated hands-on creative involvement rather than licensed branding.
Bad Bunny’s approach to design partnership differed fundamentally from typical celebrity collaborations. He embedded cultural references throughout products, from Puerto Rican flags on insoles to Spanish phrases on straps to color palettes inspired by island landscapes. Buyers weren’t just purchasing Adidas shoes with a famous person’s name, they were purchasing pieces of Puerto Rican cultural identity translated into global fashion language.
Collaboration evolution across silhouettes:
- Forum Buckle Low: Buckle modification of classic basketball shoe establishing partnership aesthetic and market demand
- Campus: Updated lifestyle silhouette with Bad Bunny’s layered aesthetic achieving 98.5% sell-through at Coachella 2023
- Gazelle Indoor: 1966 heritage model modernized with premium materials and cultural identity details
- Response CL: Performance-inspired design pushed into experimental fashion territory with melted visual effects
- Messi soccer cleat: One-off collaboration with Lionel Messi merging two of Latin culture’s biggest global icons under one Adidas campaign
- BadBo 1.0 (2026): First fully original Bad Bunny signature sneaker debuted at Super Bowl LX halftime show
The Messi collaboration deserves special mention. Adidas brought together Bad Bunny and Lionel Messi for a joint campaign shot in Miami, with the BadBo 1.0 first spotted on Bad Bunny’s feet during that very shoot. Two of Latin culture’s most globally dominant figures sharing an Adidas frame was a deliberate statement: Latin excellence isn’t a niche, it’s the center of the conversation.
Adidas CEO Gulden specifically cited collaborations with Bad Bunny, Wales Bonner, and Edison Chen as demand drivers for the Lifestyle offering in 2024 financial results. This public credit in earnings calls confirmed what sneaker enthusiasts already knew: Bad Bunny was delivering measurable business impact, not just cultural visibility.
The Coachella moment that proved the model
98.5% sell-through and Latin culture at the mainstream
The April 2023 “Adidas x Bad Bunny Campus Experience” at Coachella didn’t just sell products. It demonstrated that Latin cultural identity could drive mainstream commercial success when executed authentically. The 98.5% sell-through rate achieved at one of America’s most culturally visible music festivals proved that Bad Bunny’s audience wasn’t niche, it was mainstream.
Coachella represents a unique marketing environment. Hundreds of thousands of attendees from across wealth demographics and cultural backgrounds converge in a space where brand activations compete intensely for attention. Achieving near-total sellout in that environment against fierce competition from Nike, New Balance, and dozens of other brands demonstrated genuine purchasing conviction rather than passive brand awareness.
Coachella campaign success factors:
- Location prestige: Activation gave Bad Bunny x Adidas visibility among tastemakers influencing broader consumer trends
- Cultural authenticity: Design reflected Puerto Rican aesthetics rather than generic festival branding
- Product scarcity: Limited quantities available on-site created urgency driving immediate purchase decisions
- Social media amplification: Festival setting generated organic content creation multiplying campaign reach beyond attendees
- Cross-demographic appeal: Bad Bunny’s audience spanning Latin and non-Latin consumers demonstrated broad market access
The Coachella success also coincided with Bad Bunny’s headline performance, making the commercial activation inseparable from the cultural moment. Attendees who watched his performance felt moved by the experience and connected emotionally with the products in ways no standard retail environment could replicate.
Social media virality and the unboxing economy
Every Bad Bunny Adidas release generates earned media worth multiples of paid advertising investment. Platforms like HYPEBEAST, Complex, and Highsnobiety covered each drop. Thousands of YouTube videos documented unboxing experiences. Social media accounts dedicated entirely to Bad Bunny fashion content created sustained organic promotion between official releases.
This content ecosystem operates independently of Adidas’ marketing budget. Fans create, share, and consume Bad Bunny x Adidas content because they find it genuinely interesting, not because Adidas pays them to. The organic nature makes the content more trusted and influential than paid promotion, creating conversion rates that traditional advertising rarely achieves.
Organic content amplification metrics:
- HYPEBEAST coverage: Every major drop received editorial coverage reaching millions of sneaker-focused readers
- Unboxing economy: Thousands of YouTube channels documented purchases driving secondary demand and brand awareness
- Resale market attention: StockX and GOAT listings generated data stories covered by business and culture publications
- Social sharing: Distinctive design elements made Bad Bunny x Adidas shoes highly photographable and shareable
- Community building: Bad Bunny fan accounts maintained ongoing conversation about the partnership between release dates
The Grammy wins and Super Bowl 2026 peak moment
History-making week that elevated the partnership globally
The week of February 1-8, 2026 represented the partnership’s most extraordinary cultural moment. On February 1, Bad Bunny won three Grammy Awards at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for DeBĂŤ TiRAR MáS FOToS, making it the first Spanish-language album in Grammy history to win the night’s biggest prize. He beat out Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Sabrina Carpenter for the award.
Adidas capitalized immediately. Hours after the Grammy wins, they surprise-released a limited-edition brown colorway of the BadBo 1.0, just 1,994 pairs, a deliberate nod to Bad Bunny’s birth year of 1994. Each pair was individually numbered with embroidered “1994” detailing on the heel and priced at $160. The entire run sold out within hours, building anticipation for what was coming one week later.
Grammy week commercial strategy:
- Album of the Year win: First Spanish-language Grammy winner added cultural legitimacy far beyond music industry recognition
- Immediate product drop: 1,994 limited pairs released hours after Grammy ceremony capitalizing on peak cultural moment
- Birth year numbering: Each individually numbered pair created collectible status connecting product to artist’s personal history
- Sell-out velocity: Complete sell-out within hours of Grammy drop confirmed massive consumer demand heading into Super Bowl
- Sequential momentum: Grammy drop designed to build anticipation for white colorway reveal during halftime show
The Grammy wins also amplified Bad Bunny’s cultural significance heading into the Super Bowl. He wasn’t just a musician performing at football’s biggest stage, he was now a Grammy Album of the Year winner representing Latin culture’s arrival at the absolute peak of global entertainment.
Super Bowl LX and the BadBo 1.0 global debut
On February 8, 2026, Bad Bunny took the stage at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California for Super Bowl LX halftime show, watched by an average of 128.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched halftime performance in history. He became the first artist to headline the Super Bowl singing mainly in Spanish, a historic cultural milestone that went far beyond entertainment.
He wore the BadBo 1.0 in crisp white, his first official signature sneaker with Adidas, debuting the colorway globally in front of 128 million viewers. His background dancers also wore Adidas footwear throughout the set, including white and black Sambas and his own Adidas Ballerina sneaker, coordinating Adidas presence across the entire performance group.
Super Bowl campaign impact breakdown:
- $1.6 million MIV: Direct media impact value generated for Adidas through BadBo 1.0 worn during performance
- 20% brand search spike: Adidas experienced roughly 20% jump in brand searches immediately after the halftime show
- 39% coverage share: Bad Bunny drove nearly 40% of all Super Bowl media mentions, extraordinary for any single performer
- $170 million total MIV: Bad Bunny’s total media impact value within 12 hours surpassed Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl benchmark
- 128.2 million viewers: Second most-watched halftime show ever, trailing only Kendrick Lamar’s 2025 record
The white BadBo 1.0 launched globally on February 9, 2026, the day after the Super Bowl, through Adidas’ website, CONFIRMED app, and select retailers at $160. The sneakers sold out in minutes, completing a perfect three-act commercial story: Grammy wins, limited brown drop, Super Bowl debut, and white global release.
The BadBo 1.0 design and what it represents
The BadBo 1.0 marked a significant shift in the Bad Bunny Adidas partnership. Previous releases reinterpreted existing Adidas heritage silhouettes like the Forum and Campus. The BadBo 1.0 was the first fully original design carrying Bad Bunny’s own creative vision from the ground up, signaling his evolution from collaborator to signature athlete status typically reserved for sports legends.
The design drew from 90s athletic and skate aesthetics, featuring mid-top construction built on layers of premium suede, nubuck, and mesh. Instead of traditional Three Stripes branding, it incorporated a distinct winged midfoot support and patterned cutouts creating visual depth. Inside, insoles were marked with “adidas PARA BAD BUNNY” text cementing the signature line’s exclusivity. The BadBo logo was inspired by the Puerto Rico flag.
BadBo 1.0 design philosophy:
- Original silhouette: First fully new Bad Bunny design moving beyond heritage model reinterpretations
- 90s skate inspiration: Chunky aesthetic with premium suede overlays connected to authentic streetwear culture
- Cultural marking: Puerto Rico flag-inspired BadBo logo embedded cultural identity into core design language
- Material premium: Nubuck and hairy teasel suede construction justified $160 price point and elevated brand perception
- Signature athlete status: “adidas PARA BAD BUNNY” insole text positioned him alongside sports legends with signature lines
The “I’m Everything” campaign accompanying the BadBo 1.0 launch focused on refusing to be boxed in to a single identity or lane. The all-white colorway served as blank canvas suggesting fresh starts and self-defined paths, messaging that aligned perfectly with Bad Bunny’s career philosophy and resonated with his diverse, cross-cultural fanbase.
Business results: What the partnership actually delivered
Adidas revenue recovery and the Latin America surge
Adidas’ 2024 financial results told a clear story of recovery. Revenues increased 11% to 23.7 billion euros, with footwear leading at 17% growth driven by strong double-digits in Originals. Latin America specifically showed 21.6% currency-neutral growth in 2023, representing one of the company’s strongest regional performances during a globally difficult year.
Adidas’ Originals lifestyle division, where Bad Bunny collaborations sit alongside Samba, Gazelle, and Campus releases, delivered some of the brand’s strongest performance in 2024. The Lifestyle offering maintained strong demand even as competitors attempted similar cultural marketing strategies, demonstrating that early investment in Bad Bunny created defensible market position rather than temporary buzz.
Financial performance indicators:
- 23.7 billion euros: Total Adidas revenue in 2024, up 11% year-over-year driven partly by successful Originals collaborations
- 17% footwear growth: Strong double-digit Originals performance where Bad Bunny collaborations sit within portfolio
- 21.6% Latin America growth: Regional surge aligned with Bad Bunny’s dominant market position in that territory
- 8% North America growth (Q2 2025): Continued improvement in previously struggling market
- CEO citation: Gulden publicly credited Bad Bunny alongside Wales Bonner and Edison Chen as Originals demand drivers
The contrast with Yeezy’s legacy also validated the partnership strategy. While Adidas spent years managing Yeezy’s toxic aftermath, Bad Bunny collaborations generated zero controversy and consistently positive press. The charitable components accompanying each release further insulated the partnership from criticism that typically accompanies expensive limited-edition drops.
Resale market as real-time brand health indicator
The secondary market performance of Bad Bunny x Adidas releases provides perhaps the most honest measure of genuine consumer demand. Unlike first-party sales data which Adidas controls through release quantities, resale prices reflect organic market enthusiasm. When sneakers consistently appreciate on platforms like StockX and GOAT, it indicates authentic collector demand rather than manufactured scarcity.
The Easter Egg maintaining $560 resale value, and the BadBo 1.0 immediately hitting premium prices post-Super Bowl, indicate that Bad Bunny x Adidas products function as cultural artifacts rather than consumable fashion. This durability creates sustained brand value extending far beyond initial release buzz.
Resale market performance signals:
- Easter Egg ($560 average): $400 gross profit per pair indicating extraordinary demand relative to $160 retail price
- StockX most hyped status: First Cafe earned most-hyped non-Yeezy Adidas designation on largest sneaker resale platform
- 1,994 Grammy pairs: Sold out within hours at $160 before BadBo 1.0 had even been seen publicly
- BadBo 1.0 post-Super Bowl: White colorway appeared immediately on resale sites above retail confirming sustained demand
- Consistent appreciation: Multiple colorways maintaining value across four years showing broad collection appeal not single-release hype
The Bottom Line
Bad Bunny’s partnership with Adidas represents one of modern sports marketing’s most strategically important cultural collaborations. Starting in 2021 at precisely the moment Adidas needed alternatives to Yeezy dependency, the Puerto Rican superstar delivered sellout drops, Latin market growth, Grammy cultural credibility, and a Super Bowl debut that generated $1.6 million in media impact value and a 20% brand search spike.
The partnership worked because it was built on genuine alignment rather than transactional celebrity licensing. Bad Bunny designed products reflecting Puerto Rican identity, embedded cultural references meaningful to his audience, and participated in charitable commitments demonstrating social values beyond commercial objectives. Adidas provided global distribution, manufacturing expertise, and marketing infrastructure that amplified his cultural vision into genuine business results.
Key success factors driving partnership value:
- Cultural authenticity: Products embed Puerto Rican identity throughout design rather than applying celebrity name to generic silhouettes
- Perfect timing: Partnership launched exactly when Adidas needed culturally credible alternatives to Yeezy most urgently
- Commercial proof points: 98.5% Coachella sell-through and $560 Forum resale prices demonstrated real demand not manufactured hype
- Grammy and Super Bowl peak: History-making week in February 2026 validated Bad Bunny as transcendent cultural figure
- BadBo 1.0 evolution: First original signature silhouette elevated partnership from collaboration to signature athlete status
For marketers studying celebrity partnerships, the Bad Bunny Adidas collaboration demonstrates that cultural specificity beats generic celebrity status every time. The Latin pop audience Bad Bunny brought wasn’t peripheral. It was precisely the demographically diverse, commercially powerful, and previously underserved market that global sportswear brands had been failing to penetrate for years.
The Forum Buckle Low that started everything in 2021 wasn’t just a shoe. It was the opening chapter of Latin culture’s formal arrival at the center of global sportswear. And the BadBo 1.0 debut at Super Bowl LX in front of 128.2 million viewers was its defining moment.
