In 1984, the athletic footwear company Nike was going through a rough patch. The jogging craze that swept the nation in the ’70s was cooling down, aerobic exercise was heating up and consumers were looking to companies for example Reebok and LA Gear to fulfill their fresh sports trainer needs. Nike was forced to drastically decrease its number of backed sportsmen and to lay off 10 percent of it’s 4,000 person workforce. The company essential something profound to revitalize it’s flailing image.
Enter the Air Jordan you will see the Jordan 8. This fresh shoe – intended for basketball and not jogging – delivered a breath of fresh air to the Nike image. First of all, the trainer unveiled remarkable new technique. Air Nike trainers were made with a layer of gas trapped within the sole of the trainer. They were designated to change the way basketball shoes were made. Second, by contracting with the then somewhat unfamiliar rookie Michael Jordan, Nike was trying to adjust the face of its brand. Instead of middle-aged joggers, Nike was represented by one the most powerful athletic talents on the planet. Jordan was paid $2.5 million for a five-year contract plus royalties, and as his success skyrocketed so did Nike’s visibility on the basketball floor.
The fact that the NBA banned Air Jordans (the red and black colors of the sneaker defied the NBA dress code) just made the trainers far more famous. Michael Jordan wore the shoes anyway and paid a fine of $5,000 for every game in which his black and red Air Jordans hit the basketball floor. Nike gladly picked up the bill.
Air Jordans were so trendy that the first two shipments of Air Jordan footwear to the Los Angeles store sold out in three days. In three months during 1985 Nike sold the number of Air Jordans such as Jordan 11 they had projected to sell during the total year.
Jump to 2009 and there are over 25 different versions of Air Jordan sneakers plus a selection of Michael Jordan inspired Nike apparel. The sneakers have regularly been best sellers. In spite of this staggering success, there has been some criticism of the Air Jordan line. Some have asserted that Nike’s advertising for Air Jordan focuses on inner city youth. Many murders in the 1990’s over expensive Nike sneakers have made it clear that the shoes are very much wrapped up in drug and gang culture, and that Nike has profited from sales resulting from drug money.
Jane Barron works for OddShoeFinder,a free online website that helps people obtain mismatched trainers.Find far more info on deformed feet, corrective sneakers like the Jordan 1 or foot length distinction.