Why You Should Care About the Nike Shoes That Almost Got Banned
Nike’s Vaporfly running shoes are causing controversy and marketing themselves in the process.
Nike’s Vaporfly running shoes came onto the market in November 2016 and controversy has surrounded them ever since. The design of the shoe and the materials from which it is made — specifically the carbon fibre plate in its sole — have been shown to increase your running performance by up to 4%. A degree of improvement that has lead to doubts as to whether such a mechanical advantage is fair on the elite level, some even labeling the shoes as “technology doping”. The controversy surrounding the Vaporfly has recently come to a head due to the possibility of their being banned at a professional level.
I am a mere mortal in the running world, a hobby-jogger if you will, but despite this, I cannot deny the pull that I have felt to be part of the “cult of Vaporfly”. Fellow joggers that I run with at a local club are largely the same — everyone wants a piece of the Vaporfly.
Controversy creates desirability
The popularity of Nike’s superhuman running shoes demonstrates how effective controversy can be when it comes to marketing a product. This is especially apparent given the high price…
