Branded content is not new in the U.S.

For Foot Locker, their consumers love sports and music – when it comes to basketball and hip-hop, they go hand in hand.

“No Rings” is a Foot Locker commercial, which in its first week has amassed over three million YouTube views strictly on the strength of its casting.

In the spot, Damian Lillard, an up-and-coming NBA star, says that he doesn’t want to wind up being one of those old guys who never won a championship. Then we cut around to reveal that his guests are those very same guys – legends of pro basketball and NFL football – whose feelings are hurt that he would say such a thing.

It’s a touchy subject, to say the least. But these were the people we needed to cast to make this spot a success.

We reached out to the most famous of these athletes, and were fortunate to cast some true legends:

Barry Sanders is considered one of the greatest NFL running backs of all time, but he never went to the Super Bowl.

LaDanian Tomlinson holds the NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns in a season; he was also the league’s MVP. He never won a championship.

Chris Webber was in the NCAA basketball finals, and called a time out, as a mistake. The team did not have any time outs left, and that penalty cost them the championship.

Best of them all is Karl Malone, a 12-time NBA All-Star considered to be the greatest power forward of all time. He went to the NBA finals three times – only to lose each time.

The music was shared and featured in hundreds of sports and music blogs.

Both 'Harden Soul' and the 'Stephen Curry Remix' have 4.5/5 stars on iTunes, with thousands of downloads.

James Harden was interviewed about the song on ESPN radio, ESPN news, TBS late-night programs and the #1 rap music show in the country, BET’s 106 and Park, based solely on the buzz around the song, and not on any marketing agreements.

During the launch of the first music video, James Harden became a trending topic on Twitter, with no paid media.

Sales were up year-over-year, during a particularly difficult economic time in the retail sector.