Trolli just dropped giant gummy versions of James Harden's sneakers

Sour sneaker-shaped gummies are getting a sneakerhead-style rollout in the latest mashup of food and fashion with Trolli's debut of giant candy shoes, inspired by James Harden's newest Adidas kicks, the Harden Vol. 2. The Houston Rockets star has promoted Trolli gummy candy since 2016, when the Ferrara Candy Co. brand made Weird Beards gummies meant to look like his bearded face. Earlier this month it introduced Trolli Sour Brite Sneaks, based on his latest Adidas shoes. Thursday the candy brand blew up the Sour Brite Sneaks into giant versions, tying the concept even further to sneakerhead culture. The idea for the giant gummy concoctions came from Periscope, Trolli's creative agency of record. Periscope worked with Chicago Culinary FX to create the shoes, based on shoes Adidas shared before the Harden Vol. 2 hit stores, to make sure Trolli got the look just right. "They weigh about six or seven pounds apiece," Periscope Creative Director Dustin Joyce says of the Trolli x Harden Vol. 2: SourStock Edition giant gummies. Each "shoe" includes the equivalent of roughly 90 servings of candy, he says. The giant candy shoes will appear Thursday on StockX, known as a place to find rare kicks. They'll be available through a raffle. Those who contribute a $5 donation through the site to James Harden's 3TheHardenWay's scholarship charity will get a chance to win one of three Trolli prize packs. Each will come with a pair of the giant kicks, Harden-autographed pairs of the actual Adidas sneakers, and cases of the regular-sized candy. Periscope, which doesn't have any shoe brands as clients, says inspiration for the project began bubbling when the team found out Harden was developing a new shoe with Adidas. "We thought we had a really interesting way to do our version of a shoe drop," says Peter Nicholson, Periscope's chief creative officer. The combination of food and shoes at first seems odd--who wants to think about smelly feet while eating? But it's catching on. Trolli's shoe plans come on the heels (sorry, couldn't resist!) of the second iteration of Pizza Hut Pie Tops and Cookies & Cream versions of Adidas sneakers that launched on March 6, which happens to be Oreo Day. For Trolli, "it's a very interesting way to engage an audience, especially a really difficult one--young men and boys--to create, in a weird way, authenticity by aligning yourself with brands they reflect against themselves," says Nicholson. NBA fans got an early glimpse of the candy in a buzzy sneaker-style drop in which samples of the candy were handed out in tiny shoe boxes during February's NBA All-Star Weekend. That helped generate a little buzz before 7-Eleven began selling the bagged candy in early March. And some Internet sneakerhead unboxers have also posted about the shoes after being sent the candy along with miniature shoe boxes, basketballs, tube socks, and Trolli hoodies. Regular pairs of Harden Vol. 2 shoes start at around $140.

Trolli just dropped giant gummy versions of James Harden's sneakers

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