• by Tanya Gazdik , 7 hours ago

Hollister, the teen-focused Abercrombie & Fitch brand, has opted to let music do the talking. 

The brand “is eschewing traditional advertising in favor of a marketing strategy that speaks to the enduring role music plays in youth culture for what it describes as its largest summer campaign to date,” according to Marketing Dive. “The apparel maker collaborated with singer-songwriter Gigi Perez on a live recording and original music video for the first official cover of Green Day’s iconic 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' as part of the effort timed to graduation season.”  

The video, created by filmmaker Natalie Simmons, cuts between Perez’s acoustic rendition of the song and a montage featuring a group of high school seniors ahead of graduation.

“The brand called the video ‘the first time [Green Day has] allowed a partner and another artist to approach the song at this level,’” according to Glossy. “Hollister connected with Perez at Lollapalooza last summer, where it sponsored the festival’s late-night concerts, dubbed aftershows.”

The 26-year-old singer-songwriter has 1.6 million TikTok followers and  531,000 Instagram followers.

“We love her emotional storytelling and the way she connects life moments with her audience. It’s similar to what we aspire to do with our marketing and creative work,” said Joanna Ewing, the brand’s senior vice president of creative marketing.

While the brand looks for partners who are a match on paper -- who Gen Z is listening to, for example -- Hollister is also looking for emotional resonance, she said. 

The song “was never intended to be a graduation song, but 30 years and over 1 billion Spotify streams later, it’s safe to say Green Day’s 1997 hit is the graduation anthem,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “In support of the cover, Hollister concurrently dropped a limited-release clothing and accessories collection, also titled ‘Time of Your Life.’ Spanning shoes, jewelry, denim and other apparel, the product lineup includes customizable accessories.”

The original Green Day track debuted in 1997.

“The track was decidedly not something Green Day usually put out, a ballad-esque number with strings to match, but it resonated with folks around the world, especially those going through changes,” according to Billboard. “From graduations and proms to farewells of all sorts, the song became the soundtrack to events like these, reminding those in a transitional period of the good times gone by.”

The reimagined song is available across digital, social and video streaming platforms on March 26.