Reebok asks: “Why hit the Wall? It hurts.”

Reebok football boot wearer Thierry Henry features in a new campaign about to be launched by Reebok, called “Run Easy”. The campaign message is that running should be about “enjoying the ride” and is deliberately placed to oppose the harder “pushing the limits” running ethos espoused by bitter rival, and running shoe pioneer Nike.

“It’s about time to make a bold stance and bring the fun back into running and invite consumers of all levels of athletic ability to participate,” said Uli Becker, Reebok chief marketing officer.

The first phase of the “Run Easy” movement will feature messages such as “Run + Puke + Run = Crazy” and “Why Hit the Wall? It Hurts” being backed up by a new website GoRunEasy.com. The website features, in Reebok’s words, a “mashup” between Reebok, Google maps and Flickr, letting visitors map out and share photos of their favourite running routes. Reebok is again using street-slang in a move to distance itself with Nike, and portray itself as being down with the kids of today. Quite.

Reebok’s Run Easy Video features Thierry Henry in a conversation running at “the speed of chat.” Not so much va-va-voom, more chug-chug-chat for the Arsenal striker!

View the Reebok Run Easy Video.