"A few things led us to this campaign. First we noticed that the brand had moved their offices three years ago from Detroit to New York to be more associated with luxury. So strategically we decided we wanted to associate the brand with New York (like other luxury brands that are associated with their cities). And New York is different from the rest of the US and the rest of the world. Its art, fashion, music, and many other aspects are different and its statement of luxury is different. It is also a city that resembles the ‘dare greatly’ ethos of the brand.
"On the other hand we wanted to make this message relevant to our audience and for the brand to connect with our audience. There was a time at the beginning of this year when America's brand was not on the rise. Arabs were not sure of their opinion of the US because of the socio-political tension. As an American icon we wanted to be the brand that would reaffirm our connection and appreciation of such an audience and their contribution to making New York the city that never sleeps. Hence the creation of Arabs of New York.
"Finding the right people was hard and easy. Active and successful people are hard to get hold of and hardly answer emails from unknown sources. When we managed to find them and explained the campaign to them, they got excited. We had a long list of people but as mentioned before either they were hard to reach or hard to pin down around our shooting schedule. Some of these people were found either randomly while watching the news or through friends or online."