The ads are aimed at 18- to 25-year-olds, but focus on events that they could not possibly remember including Glastonbury 20 years ago.
One execution, for the Reebok Gold Medallist style, is headed "Glastonbury '82", and reads: "I was in a foul mood because the mud had ruined my Reeboks. I'd had them ages and I knew I'd never get another pair like them. So when my girlfriend said I should've worn something else, I lost it. Big time. I never saw her again after that."
Another execution shows the Supercourts model of shoe, with a tale of an overeager skateboarder who ruined them.
The ads are done in a pop art style, with illustrations rather than photographs of the shoes. Geoff Smith was copywriter for the campaign, which was art directed by Simon Morris. The illustrations were done by Phillip Castle, an airbrush artist whose work was widely used in the early 1980s.
Media for the campaign is through Initiative. It will appear in style magazines such as The Face, Sleaze Nation, Tank and Wallpaper*.
Mike Price, consumer marketing manager at Reebok, said: "Both the trainers and the advertising show that Reebok is bringing a fresh angle to the retro sector, by showing the attachment people have to their trainers."
Lowe was behind an award winning campaign for Reebok last year, in which a man who tries to go out jogging is viciously attacked by his sofa.
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