Jordan Shoes: A Symbol Of Black Culture Conquering White Culture

After stepping into NBA in the summer of 1984, Michael Jordan became the myth of flying over Chicago. Children in Chicago believe that Superman, Batman, Spiderman and flash man are not as great as Michael. But for Jordan himself, although Chicago gave him five years 4 million dollars contract and Prince's courtesy, he still remembered north card. That's where the dream started. He took off from a North Carolina boy. So in Chicago, he has to change to North Carolina's pants before every match. NBA players are generally superstitious, and Jordan is no exception. He was obsessed with the blue color of the North Carolina sign, and slightly criticized Chicago's red color.

　　 "Red is the eye of hell, and blue is heaven."

But he will soon be away from the cool, clear blue, the dangerous, evil red in hell.

That was the year when Joanne's mother, Jordan, decided to ask David Falck to act as Jordan's agent: he was concerned about Jordan's long-term image management rather than eager for quick success and instant benefit for one or two short-term contracts; moreover, there was a detail that black parents would care about: Falck, a white man - the assistant was a black lawyer.

　　 "Well, good, he does not discriminate against blacks!"

Falck does not discriminate against Jordan. On the contrary, he was overjoyed to sign Jordan. He contacted NIKE, a brand founded in 1972 in Oregon, which was not very successful at that time. Then NIKE asked Jordan to sign in Portland, Oregon. At first Jordan didn't quite like it: he had a crush on ADIDAS. But his parents knew the way of business and persuaded him, "children, this is very important!" he went, stepped into the conference room of NIKE, and saw all the NIKE bosses in it. Robert, the elder then, suggested:

　　 "250 thousand dollars a year, the contract period is five years!"

Jordan is not very active. In fact, only David Falck believed that he would succeed at the very beginning. When he ran to talk about it with NIKE, NIKE was worried about their share price falling to only 6 dollars. Falck's tone was rampant, but not arrogant, but agitated. He shouted, "Jordan should have his own shoes and get the bonus!" NIKE reminded Falck: This is 1980s. All the players who own the brand are tennis players and golfers. In short, those who have money in the middle class have white collar figures.

Moreover, most of them are white.

Falck knows that sneakers are stubborn and believe that the white market can not accept black people. He still desperately persuaded NIKE to put all his money on Jordan. NIKE thought it was too risky to put all the eggs in the same basket. Well, how about distributing the money to Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing? No, No. Barkley is too fat. Ewing has a gorilla's face attached to death. OK, OK, Falck persuaded everyone, NIKE decided to invest in Jordan.

　　 And how did Jordan accept NIKE?

Falck showed Jordan the video of publicity. Previously, Jordan was only concerned about what new car NIKE would send him, but he was shocked when he saw the video. His friend Fred Whitfield of the same year later said:

"I think this is the first time he has been shocked by himself."

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Falck thought that the name of Jordan's shoes should be named Air Jordan, a beautiful double pass, "air cushion Jordan" or "flying Jordan". "Jordan can fly," which is the concept of Falck. In the videotape, Jordan's action was clipped, and the special effect was widely used. In slow motion, Jordan doesn't seem to be playing basketball anymore. He is flying.

Before that, he had seen his famous 1982 killer many times. That 23 dominates the fate of college basketball, which is too strong to be watched. But the number 23 in this advertisement is another matter. He is out of the world, he is like God. He is flying.

So the first generation of Air Jordan was produced. Red + black. The color of hell is evil and gorgeous, and it should hardly be allowed to occupy NBA's elegant and dignified arena. At the time, David Stern, the president of NBA, was very angry: the new official took up three fires and he had to frighten the players. He banned players from wearing colorful shoes. Jordan wears Air Jordan on the floor? No way!

As you know, Americans love life freely. Now they are in front of them: such a pair of shoes: the endorsement is a flying guy, a black man; gorgeous and evil, as dangerous as hell, expensive, and banned by the alliance too exciting! A year later, Jordan was told that NIKE was sold by Air Jordan, which amounted to $1 billion 300 million a year.

By the summer of 1987, Jordan was haunted by advertisements in the world. He wears Nike shoes. He ate McDonald's with Coca-Cola. He drives a Chevrolet and plays basketball in Wilson's hands (Wilson). He seems to be able to move the White House to North Carolina, lift The Empire State Building to Chicago, and fly all over the sky... The real one wandered around San Diego, Pittsburgh and Sherlock, and NIKE regarded him as God of heaven every time he appeared. Of course, some people are not willing to.

"Come on, be realistic. Kids who wear Air Jordan shoes don't really turn into Michael Jordan.

"Not really." Jordan replied, "but they will have advantages. I told them: "don't try to be like me, try to be better than me - that's their goal."

For the first time, the producers of sneakers understand that they are not just trying to make stars wear their shoes to imitate; they can shape stars and shoes into a dream, an immortal myth. The children saw their own future and dreams in their shoes and advertisements, and then worked hard. All of these things complement each other, and finally made professional sports, sports shoes and Star packaging become one of the greatest industries in the world. At the beginning, in 1984, "Jordan can fly", this is the first myth and allusion.