Apple TV

Highest 2 Lowest Film Campaign

Background
Eighteen years after their last collaboration, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunited for their fifth film together, Highest 2 Lowest. The return of two cultural icons came at a moment of global uncertainty, creating the perfect opportunity to position the film as a once-in-a-lifetime cultural event. With the Apple TV premiere set for September 5, our challenge was to build anticipation on social, especially among audiences who wouldn’t be able to experience it in theaters.

A story and characters centered in New York, and we needed to make the city feel like the story was theirs even before audiences saw the film.

Approach
Denzel. Spike. A$AP Rocky.

From Mount Vernon to Brooklyn to Harlem, these three are New York icons. And what did we learn from the New York Knicks’ deep playoff run this past season? When one of their own icons steps back into the spotlight, the city takes notice.

In Highest 2 Lowest, A$AP Rocky’s character Yung Felon performs a track that plays a pivotal role in the story. What if we built anticipation for the film by getting New Yorkers hyped about the song before the movie even dropped?

By leaning into authentic NYC street-level promo tactics and giving the track a true New York stage, we could spark the kind of grassroots energy that makes the city itself feel like part of the campaign, turning the song into a cultural moment ahead of the film’s release.

Executions
Brooklyn Mixtape Drop
We enlisted NYC street figure Movie Mo to distribute mixtapes across Brooklyn, each designed to feel like an underground drop. Hidden inside a few: golden tickets to the Highest 2 Lowest NYC premiere. Passersby ignored Mo until one cracked a tape and found the surprise—captured in hidden-camera style by New York Nico. The raw footage spread online, driving buzz rooted in real NYC grit.

Get Hype With Ellie – Liberty Game Takeover
Next, we brought the film into a cultural arena. Partnering with the 2024 WNBA Champion New York Liberty and their beloved mascot Ellie, we transformed two key home games into cinematic stages. On August 10, Ellie delivered a choreographed routine to Yung Felon’s original track, followed by the film’s trailer on the Jumbotron. On August 28, just before release, the moment peaked with Ellie and Spike Lee courtside, showing love to each other as the crowd roared. The timing positioned the film at the center of New York’s cultural conversation, from the streets to the stadium..