The most effective product signals lately are the ones nobody paid to create.
“The Devil Wears Prada” gave luxury fashion a cultural shortcut. You didn’t need to explain what Prada meant after that title entered our culture.
Now the internet has accidentally created another one.
A few days ago, a Vatican documentary trailer featuring Pope Leo XIV went viral after viewers noticed something unexpected beneath the papal robes: crisp white Nike sneakers with a black Swoosh.
Sneaker forums quickly identified them as Nike Franchise Lows, a tennis-inspired model with roots going back to the ’70s.
The best part is that Nike probably couldn’t have orchestrated this.
No celebrity partnership, campaign, culture activation” or influencer seeding here.
Just a real human detail that collided with an already-famous cultural reference.
And now suddenly, millions of people are talking about Nike in a completely different emotional context.
That’s one of the core ideas behind I Need That.
People hardly ever become attached to products because of the product alone. They get attached ’cause the product helps complete a story they already get.
In this case, the storylines were already running through our minds on repeat:
“The Devil Wears Prada 2”.
Luxury symbolism.
And status through clothing.
Nike accidentally moseyed into that frame and by default inherited all the emotional energy surrounding it.
Not unlike the random bottle of Nutella in space I wrote about yesterday, sometimes relevance appears because your product pops happenstance into culture at just the perfect moment.
The real skill is building products and brands that are capable of benefiting in a meaningful way when those moments happen.
What other products today are subtly becoming symbols of something much more grand than their original function? (I can think of a few more.)
Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as Graphos Product’s product marketing consultants, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.