Reebok Teams With China’s Hottest Grandpa
HONG KONG — Octogenarian Wang Deshun is Reebok’s newest brand ambassador in China. The silver-haired actor, best known as “China’s hottest grandpa,” has been tapped by the sports brand as it expands its presence aggressively in the region.
Wang, who was born in 1936 in the northeastern city of Shenyang, stars in Reebok’s latest Chinese video campaign “Be More Human” alongside actress Yuan Shanshan and actor Wu Lei.
The senior citizen first caught attention back in 2015 walking in Beijing Fashion Week for a local designer where his bare-chested strut and energy made him an overnight sensation.
“Only seriously getting into fitness at the age of 70, Wang’s example has helped reshape China’s views on aging and shown you’re never too old to pursue your goals,” Reebok said.
On Wednesday, Reebok laid out its goals to become “China’s best fitness brand.” It is quickly expanding its new lifestyle retail concept FitHubs which integrate retail, fitness and other activities for customers. With locations already in Wuhan, Qingdao and Hangzhou, Reebok plans to open a total of 500 FitHubs by 2020. Fifty are scheduled to open in 2017.
At present Reebok focuses on three key categories: running, training and classics, but it will especially promote its running line this year.
“With running in particular experiencing an unprecedented surge in popularity in China in recent years, the category will be a key focus for Reebok in 2017 as it leverages proprietary, cutting-edge technology such as FloatRide to help runners perform at their very best,” it said.
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