Damn, Daniel! Looking good in those white Vans!
At least, that’s what the Vans brand is thinking. According to Bloomberg, Vans has seen a hefty increase in sales thanks to the viral video. The company reported increases of 20% for direct-to-consumer sales and 30% for online sales in the first quarter.
Despite the boost in sales, the brand has denied that they played any part in creating the viral video. "It wasn't planted at all," parent company VF Corp. Chief Executive Eric Wiseman told Bloomberg.
But Vans is more than happy to admit to capitalizing on the video. As the internet freaked out about Daniel, who was at it again with the white Vans, its website redirected all visitors directly to the white shoes seen in the video. In February, the company gave the eponymous Daniel Lara, 14, a lifetime supply of Vans shoes in an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show — every single one of them a white slip-on.
Lara and his friend Josh Holz, 15, the creator the video, have been sort of charmingly awkward about the whole thing. While Lara seemed to like the gift of more pairs of white Vans than he could ever hope to get dirty, the kicks clearly don’t compare to the other reward of his teenage superstardom — the girls, apparently, love a man in some white sneakers. “The girls are just a huge bonus out of all this,” he admitted at the time.