With the help of tennis great Andy Murray and the music of Memotone, James Humby takes a refreshingly different approach to often predictable field of sports footwear advertising for Hylo.

Directed by Humby and co-produced with Intergalactic Studios and Untold Studios, the project is a humorous and impactful promotion of the expanding relationship between Andy Murray and Hylo, the performance shoe using bio-based materials including corn and castor beans.

With deadpan, tongue-in-cheek humour - an approach the director has applied successfully in his Molten Jets live music series (as Ja Humby) - the film draws on Andy Murray and Roger Federer’s well-known rivalry as a springboard for a playful clash between Hylo and its more established competitors.

There is an unpolished, behind-the-scenes feel as Murray is presented at a press launch for the new Hylo shoe where, to his frustration, the press only want to talk about his on-court rivalry with Federer, the tennis legend now associated with rising Swiss sportswear brand On.

Titled It’s Not About Him, the film uses this dynamic to cleverly subvert expectations, turning sporting rivalry into a comedic device that drives attention to a product built not just for output, but with material innovation and environmental impact in mind. And Humby's mockumentary-style approach, completely different to a traditional brand campaign, underlines the statement that the future of performance wear is sustainable. 

“I’m drawn to things that aren’t immediately obvious, so leaning into Andy’s dry, deadpan humour, the candid documentary-style approach, understated performances, and slower pace (than you’d expect from an ad) were ways of counterbalancing the slapstick with a sense of observational realism," explains Humby.

"Memotone’s music and Jake Ashwell’s mix helped to shape a kind of fever dream, reflecting Andy and Hylo’s anxiety around the partnership, with nods to Roger Federer’s successful investment in On serving as an inside joke for the runners these high-performance shoes are aimed at.”