Air Jordan Research Paper

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The headline read, “It's a duck, it's a jet... no, it's a pair of Air Jordans.” The sporting world went nuts as Michael Jordan set off for a dunk from the free-throw line. He was no longer Jordan. He had changed his name to Jumpman. The slogan for the shoe company is named after the best basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. Right after, his then-recent line of streetwise basketball shoes took off, ushering in a new wave in sneaker culture. The story of the Air Jordan isn't about a shoe; it's about a legend. As a talented rookie who had just signed with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan wanted a deal with his favorite shoe company, Adidas. However, they couldn’t agree terms and he ended up at Nike. Their loss. The first two designs of Air …show more content…

A combination of Jordan’s achievements on the court, Nike’s incredible marketing campaign and Tinker Hatfield’s genius is responsible for the shoes success as a luxury brand (Carducci 43). So what is sneaker culture? It can only be described as transcendence or simply as ‘shoe becomes lifestyle.’ Driven by the current wave of consumerism, proper marketing and popular culture, high end shoes have become a way of life. However, Air Jordan is not just a status symbol. Black Americans identify with the brand because it symbolizes black excellence. As one of the greatest athletes in sports history, Michael Jordan is just as important as Michael Jackson, Mohammed Ali, Malcolm X and other icons. Jordan’s motto ‘go hard or go home’ still resonates with many sports fans. Fans who identify with Jordan’s motto have turned the shoe into a pop phenomenon, the sneaker culture which simply means these fans see the sneaker as a way of life, a must-have. Modern sneaker culture can trace its roots to the first Air Jordan released in 1985. Fast forward, in 2015, two of the biggest stars in hip-hop, Drake and Future collaborated on the latest song about Air Jordan,

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