Just Salad cashes in its Knick

Just Salad launched its first campaign with Jalen Brunson on Monday, September 21, 2026, roughly three months after the New York Knicks point guard became an equity partner in the 125-unit fast-casual chain.

The platform is "New York Always Knew," and the hero spot is the chain's first work on connected television. It is shot documentary-style inside a Just Salad restaurant: an interviewer asks New Yorkers to name their favorite athlete, they answer in unison, and Brunson himself is standing in line behind them, listening. "Real New Yorkers know," he says, and sits down to eat.

The outdoor creative splits by market, which is the smartest thing in it. Billboards and transit sites in New York City and Long Island carry "Real New Yorkers Know." Across New Jersey and Connecticut the line becomes "We Always Knew" — a claim of ownership offered to fans who are not, technically, New Yorkers, over a player born in New Brunswick.

"Just Salad fans have believed in this brand since long before we had 125 locations to point to," said chief marketing officer Jen Lally. "Jalen's fans have that same instinct — the pride of recognizing greatness before everyone else caught on."

Founder and chief executive Nick Kenner framed it as vindication. The brand opened in 2006, early to a salad category that has since filled up, and he says it spent years being told it was not cool enough while it worked on the product instead.

The campaign runs about a month, timed to the start of the NBA season, before the creative shifts toward product in November. Brunson's role is written as partner rather than face: he works with the leadership and culinary teams and turns up in restaurants, which is what gives a line like "we always knew" something to stand on.

It is a tidy piece of positioning for a chain planning growth beyond its tristate heartland — establish the hometown claim loudly, then travel with it.

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →