JORDAN'S, KOBES, LEBRONS, ARE THEY WORTH IT?
“But see I look inside the mirror and think Phil Knight tricked us all”- Macklemore Wings.
Nike, they have consumed us, they have tapped into the human brain of
what looks right, feels comfortable, and what supposedly works well.
Nike has risen as the years have gone on. Before Nike had signed Michael
Jordan in 1984 Nike made $269,775 in 1980 and then made twice as much
after Jordan. That is far below what they have now. But really are all
those shoes worth it? Yeezys are going for $2,000-$3,000 on Ebay. The
infamous “Mags” as seen in Back To The Future Two
have been going on Ebay now for $10,000. What I am really trying to
tell you is that there should be a difference in quality of a $20 nike
shoe and a $300 shoe. But is there?
What is the meaning of consumerism? How does Nike make us feel that
it’s shoes are a pursuit of identity? Personally, I love Nike. And, yes,
I do buy their shoes. But why do I want to? I want to because it’s the
power of purchase. A regular Joe can be overcome by the power of
purchase. But what is the power of purchase? The power of purchase is
how Nike tricks you into buying it’s higher end shoe products. The way
they do it is almost entirely by display. They take a shoe that has a
very clean look and put labels on it like: Helps to make better cuts in
basketball, stylish off court, great feel on court, very comfortable.
The very comfortable part intrigues me, the Nike Zoom Rookie were said
to be comfortable, but as I played in them they made my feet hurt. What
I’m trying to tell you is Nike is all about looks. The shoes look won’t
make you play better, you could wear a less expensive pair of shoes and
perform the same or better.
What has Nike’s revenue been over the past years? Well, before they
signed Michael Jordan they made only $269,775 and after Jordan signed to
Nike they made twice as much more money. The Michael Jordan shoe line
was then released and that has become the most bought shoe line ever.
The line was soon banned because it didn’t meet the NBA’s
specifications. They would fine Jordan $5,000 dollars everytime he wore
them on the court and Nike would pay the fine everytime he wore them.
This made the Jordan shoe line very very popular at that time. Still,
today 12 year olds get shoes that first came out before they were even
born.
What I am really asking is are these $200 nike shoes really worth more
or less than the $20 Nike shoes. I would say in some cases the more
expensive is better and in other cases it isn’t. Take Free Runs for
example, they range from $90-$100 and never over that. On the other hand
take some Lebron 10 MVPs. The MVPs are $2,000, but are they going to
make me run better? No in this case it is all in the looks. Lebron 10
MVPs are expensive but really do no better in running than free runs.
Now take some free runs again as before ranging from $90-$100, now take
some Hyperdunks. Hyperdunks range from $100-$150 these will work better
for running, they have overall more quality and much more support if I
were to play basketball. So in the end it turns out that in some cases
the expensive shoes will be better but in other cases they won’t.
URL LINKS:
MAGS: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef015391a89c46970b-pi
YEEZY: http://uncrate.com/p/2012/05/nike-air-yeezy-2-xl.jpg
