The Enduring Popularity of Air Jordans and 'His Airness'
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By Anne Enke, Anne of Carversville
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Air Jordan Is Nowhere Near Its Last Dance
NBA star MIchael Jordan has made over $1.3 billion from Nike, an estimated sum Forbes magazine calls "the biggest endorsement bargain in sports".
As the richest athlete endorsement deal ever, the Chicago Bulls superstar NFL player Michael Jordan did as much for Nike, as the Nike Swoosh did for him. Note the the Swoosh disappeared in the second year of the shoe, prompting Air Jordans and Jordan Brand to thereafter draw "inspiration from jets and sports cars, jazz and even wildlife," writes the Chicago Tribune, who offers one of many histories of Air Jordans on the Internet.
The History of Flying Men
Icarus: Perhaps you’ve heard about Icarus. In Greek mythology, Icarus attempted to escape from Crete flying with wings made of feathers and wax. His father Daedalus warned Icarus first of complacency and then of hubris and lack of awareness.
Literally, Icarus was to fly in the middle of the sky. Too close to the water, the wax would harden and clog his wings. If Icarus flew to high and close to the sun, the wax in his wings would melt, After takeoff, Icarus did indeed fly high into the sky.
Unable to resist the hubris of defying gravity and flying on a divine trajectory, Icarus lost his wing power as the sun melted the wax in his wings. He fell into the sea and died.
Read more about how Michael Jordan became America’s heroic Superman
Ka-Ching
After agreeing to a deal that sent heart palpitations through the bodies of high-level Nike executives, Michael Jordan, the Brooklyn boy who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, walked away with a five-year deal at an annual base pay of $500,000.
Sounds good, right? It was triple any other NBA sneaker deal in 1984. To sweeten the deal, Jordan also got his own shoe line: Air Jordan was born.
“Nike’s expectation when we signed the deal was, at the end of year four, they hoped to sell $3 million worth of Air Jordans,” says Falk. “In year one, we sold $126 million.”
Probably The Biggest, Baddest Licensing Deal in History
Bauhaus-Inspired Nike Air Max 270 Sneakers Inspired Toilet Paper Magazine Posters AOC Fashion July, 2019
Unlike blogs, websites, video-makers and more people, who just copy the work of others, Nike is seeking creatives with an Apple-mentality, involved in the relentless pursuit of perfection. Without being paid a dime — or with only the original creative spark being paid — communication players built-out the story around the new Air Max lifestyle sneaker.
Knowing from Fast Company that the posters honored the Bauhaus, AOC (as always) went intellectual. We don’t assume that especially younger readers necessarily know or care about the Bauhaus. How can we use the campaign to teach them?
The Bauhaus was founded by Weimar-based architect Walter Gropius, who combined both arts and crafts and the fine arts worlds in a democratic, populist intellectualism. The Art Story describes the Bauhaus movement in terms that resonate today:
The origins of the Bauhaus lie in the late 19th century, in anxieties about the soullessness of modern manufacturing, and fears about art's loss of social relevance. The Bauhaus aimed to reunite fine art and functional design, creating practical objects with the soul of artworks.
Performance Basketball Shoes Are in Downward Spiral Since 2015, but Retro Is Rising
AOC didn’t know that the performance basketball shoe market peaked in 2015 and has experienced double-digit declines since then, according to NPD.
Read all the details of Air Jordans’ staggering financial performance in Nike’s fiscal 2021 revenues and profits. Also, we share eye-opening details about the decline of basketball performance shoes and the rise of retro.
The World of Air Jordan Drops
Air Jordan drops are huge events in the sneaker world. Countless communities have grown up around the world of sneakerheads. Social psychologists write about them. There are calendars online with all the drop dates organized with images. Determined fans look for ways to get a pair of targeted Air Jordans months before the releases.
Back in 2018, Nike brand president Trevor Edwards stated, “We want to keep Jordan icons coveted and special, which is why we are proactively managing the exclusivity of specific iconic styles.” This means that these shoes will continue to be hard to get your hands on, making them unique to say the least.
The more AOC digs and explores the Air Jordan brand DNA — including this incredible new place for Air Jordans in the world of activist fundraising — call us speechless.
Image by Mike Von, Downtown Los Angeles, CA via Unsplash
Air Jordan: A Brand People Believe In
Studying the Nike press release on fiscal 2021 sales, Air Jordan has been very much with us in America’s darkest hour in decades. In all honesty, I don’t have an emotional relationship with Nike. But I’ve definitely developed an attachment to Air Jordan and Jordan Brand, especially when we get to the section on values and activism.
Covid Sent a Gut Punch to the Air Jordan Community
Who did ordinary people turn to for comfort and a sense of hope and security — but also a shot in the arm to keep us running in COVID-world 2020? ‘His Airness’ Michael Jordan — that’s who.
There is no debate around this issue. The Nike fiscal report on sales and profitability tells us all we need to know about how “we the people” felt about Air Jordan and Jordan Brand in 2020. Businesses were reeling, and in saunters Air Jordan to take a Wall Street bow.
I daresay, Jordan Brand’s influence was even more critical to our bleeding hearts, because Michael Jordan got seriously in the game on the topic of racial justice post George Floyd’s May 2020 murder in Minnesota. That’s the focus of AOC’s future post on values and activism in Air Jordan and Jordan Brand.
Why Am I doing This Giant Freebie for Nike and Air Jordan?
Read our in-depth series on Air Jordan to find out.
Our kids need Air Jordan as an example of American grit and determination to overcome not only COVID, but the drive to end American democracy and the disenfranchisement of million of voters of color.
Each of us is obligated to use our best skills to stop this march of Trumpism in America, and I EXPECT Nike to be in this game of American politics that has become a scary blood-sport.
I can’t think of a better tactical move to make this minute for Anne of Carversville, than to start bird-dogging Nike and Air Jordan. Regular readers expect us to bird-dog brands on sustainability.
Now we will be tracking brands taking a stand for “we the people politics” in America and worldwide.
Fasten your seat belts, because AOC intends to fly high in this new endeavor. We won’t fly into the sun — Icarus, we are not. But we will fly in the face of business. In the words of the great Muhammad Ali, we will “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”
How Successful Is Michael Jordan? He's the GOAT!
16 years after playing his last professional basketball game, Michael Jordan out-earns every current NBA player in the sneaker income category. Earning $130 million from his Nike deal, Jordan made four times the No. 2 ranked LeBron James, who made $32 million in 2019.
We want to “Be Like Mike”
Note the music in the Gatorade commercial. It transcends America. Heck I expect Nelson Mandela to enter stage left any second. The commercial is deeply Black in its powerhouse influence on global culture and yet it transcends race.
That was Nelson Mandela’s approach, too — pure ubuntu. Mandela found that the power of Ubuntu, the inner core of every person's humanity, could move mountains.
Our young people don’t really know and understand the power of Nelson Mandela’s message. But they DO want to be like Mike. So do I. So should you. ~ Anne
