大象传媒

One Man and His Shoes tells the story of America’s fascination with fame, consumerism, and of course, Air Jordans. It brings to light the ultimate cost of consumerism versus supply and demand.

It begins with Michael Jordan, who first appeared on the Chicago Bulls’ radar while playing for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, where he would go on to win the 1982 NCAA Championship. Just two years later, the Bulls would use their number three pick to sign the six-foot-six shooting guard.

He would then go on to achieve a level of greatness that would cement his status as one of the best professional athletes of all time. He kicked off his NBA career with Rookie of the Year, and started as he meant to continue; racking up six championships, five regular season MVPs and six Finals MVPs amongst a myriad of other awards and achievements.

However, it was in 1984-85 season that he would not only unleash his dominance on the NBA, but also the sneaker market, with the release of his first signature shoe: the Air Jordan 1… and Nike would go on to make $126 million in the first year; $125 million more than initially projected. They would go on to release another 34 models of the Air Jordan and become a multi-billion dollar company with the largest market share in the global footwear market.

Through interviews with the likes of Nike designer Peter Moore, Michael Jordan’s former agent David Falk and Nike Marketing Exec Sonny Vaccaro; Director Yemi Bamiro examines the push for Jordan to be marketed as though he was playing an individual sport. It wasn’t enough that Converse wanted to treat him like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or Dr J - Nike backed Jordan 100%. When it came to sign Jordan before he had played even a single NBA game, Vaccaro stated “Give it to Jordan. He has what you want.” And he was right. He came in and took the league, and the world, by storm.

Nike were once famously branded as ‘A marketing company that sold sneakers’ and they came to realise that if they put superstar athletes in adverts, such as they did with Michael Jordan, they didn’t have to say much else. This would of course bring Nike great success over the coming years after Jordan joined their brand. However, it would have dire consequences in the form of violence and crime, and even murder, amongst America’s youths.

One youth affected directly by this was Joshua Woods of Houston, Texas, who was murdered for his pairs of Air Jordans, immediately after buying them. Director Yemi Bamiro spoke with Dazie Williams, Joshua’s mother, who said “I am in no way, shape or form blaming Nike for my son’s death… but they can say something.” And, it is a hard hitting point. To what degree are brands responsible for their actions when it comes to marketing their products?