No More Red leveraged the power of sport sponsorship to bring a serious issue, knife crime, to the forefront of people’s minds by launching with Arsenal wearing a one-off all white kit in their FA Cup match vs Nottingham Forest – televised live on ITV. The launch moment connected with people beyond just the world of football, leading to organic coverage and commentary across social media in support of the initiative.

2021 saw the highest number of teenage murders on the streets of London on record. Knife crime has been on the rise in the capital for a number of years and cuts in government budgets have seen 750 youth centres close. Arsenal & adidas are uniquely placed to play a vital role within London to help provide alternative pathways. “No More Red” is a long-term initiative for young Londoners to help them stay away from youth violence through active mentorship and the creation of safe spaces.

To generate noise around the initiative we created a moment that got the Nation talking. The campaign kicked off with a bold statement removing the iconic red from the Arsenal home kit, to create an all-white kit symbolic of an ambition to eradicate bloodshed amongst London’s youth. Adidas and Arsenal teamed up with lifelong Arsenal fan Idris Elba and Arsenal legend Ian Wright to help launch the kit.

The special white kit was worn in game by Arsenal live on National TV in one of the biggest moments in the sporting calendar, the FA Cup. The broadcast included a 10-minute pitch side discussion about the campaign before the game with Idris Elba and Ian Wright, and our hero film being played live during the segment too.

The white kit isn’t for sale and will instead be awarded to individuals & organisations doing work in the community through a newly formed “No More Red Collective”. The programme provides access to paid projects, mentorship & support from adidas and Arsenal to help make their ambitions a reality by acknowledging those who are using their creativity to avoid knife crime, inspire those around them and addressing some of the root causes of knife crime & youth violence. Alongside the Collective and ‘Arsenal In The Community’, we are giving young people access to new pitches and safe spaces for football in the heart of the community. Shirts worn in the FA Cup game were given to 10 knife crime charities to recognise their hard work as well as inviting them to be partners in the campaign moving forward. No More Red is a commitment that will continue into the future.

To launch the initiative, we created a launch film which was published across social with support from current and ex- Arsenal players including Ian Wright and Bukayo Saka, as well as the legendary Arsenal fan Idris Elba.

The film gained organic media coverage on ITV with a dedicated segment in the pre-match coverage of the FA Cup Game. This was supported by a series of longer-form films that further highlighted the issues, discussed how role models and creativity can form part of the solution and introduced the No More Red Collective. They ran across adidas owned social channels and .com. In addition, Idris Elba and Ian Wright were interviewed for feature press articles where they discussed the campaign and why they’re proud to support it.

All this meant, by the time Arsenal walked onto the pitch in a historic all white kit, everyone watching knew why.

The film gained organic media coverage on ITV with a dedicated segment in the pre-match coverage of the FA Cup Game as well as a dedicated 3 minute segment in the ITV 6 o’clock national news.

The campaign & initiative received support & commentary across social with some highlights below:

‘Hugely powerful campaign, which I applaud as Home Secretary’ - Priti Patel Home Secretary

‘I'll be cheering on @Arsenal as they go out on the pitch in all white’ - Sadiq Kahn, Mayor of London

‘We welcome @Arsenal’s initiative No More Red’ - Metropolitian Police

‘Great initiative ???????? ‘- David Beckham