![]() 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. ![]()
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