Nike had developed its air cushions in 1977. I want to marry Michael to your airbag technology.” In a scene authors Rodrigo Corral, Alex French and Howie Kahn detail in their 2017 book, “ Sneakers,” Falk, after exchanging pleasantries, looked to Strasser and said, “Rob, I’ve got an idea. Who would be that hero? The ailing shoe company sought a body brimming with transcendent talent, a superhuman athlete.Įnter the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan, of whom Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird once said, “I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan.”ĭuring the summer of 1984, Nike shoe designer Peter Moore and Strasser gathered in the Washington, D.C., office of Jordan’s agent, David Falk. In 1984, the company posted its first losing quarter and initiated a monthlong wave of layoffs employees called the “ St. The company had gone public in 1980 with a listless opening. This memo appeared during a turbulent period for Nike.
In 1983, Nike’s marketing director, Rob Strasser, wrote an internal memo explaining the importance of using star athletes to sell their products: “Individual athletes, even more than teams, will be the heroes symbols more and more of what real people can’t do anymore – risk and win.” In this way, “Air” becomes the story of how a struggling company created one of the most successful brands in the world on the back of a Black body, a tale as old as the nation itself. The film’s true power is its ability to convey an unnerving truth about the sneakers’ mystique: Jordan’s athletic ability was crucial to the success of Nike and Air Jordan not so much his face – and definitely not his words. How could a film about one of the most famous Black men in the world obscure his presence? Much has been made about Michael Jordan’s representation or lack thereof in “Air.”
In the entire film, he utters only three words. It’s about white men languishing through midlife crises who salivate over the branding potential of a star basketball player.Īs for Jordan? Audiences just see his back as he strolls into the Nike offices and his hands as he admires the Air Jordan prototype – but never his face. It’s about power suits, purple Porsches and Rolexes.
It’s about the beauty of design and the seduction of marketing. (THE CONVERSATION) The film “ Air,” which tells the story of Nike’s signing of Michael Jordan, isn’t actually about Michael Jordan at all.
0 kommentar(er)
