THEJNSREPORT

Welcome to THEJNSREPORTS LEBRON & NIKE OMG!! STOP THE MADNESS!!!

Todays topic addresses Capitalism and the consumer.  For us here at THEJNSREPORT it is truly disgusting, to acutally be able to see how wicked and corrupt corporations can be in their highly exploitative marketing and anticipation of potential violence increases due to the high price of Lebrons latest shoe to be released this fall.  At $300 a pair, news reports say the company (Nike) will have to due everything prudent to secure its locations and store personnel as well as customers when its released.  I think back to my child hood where everyday robberies for name brand jackets and sneakers came due to their high prices and status associated with them.

I can envision many inner city residents who can’t afford to have the shoes doing everything possible to secure their social status by throwing more of the wealth they don’t have away for a pair of basketball shoes that most won’t wear on or near a basketball court.   Those who know how exclusive the shoes are due to their price I believe will lead to a rise in robberies for the high end foot wear.  Does and should Lebron and Nike care about that potential impact in communities where most of the inhabitants can’t afford to own a pair?  Should that even be their problem since this is America and capitalism is King?

I guess like an anchor on the news put it Nike is a luxury brand and like any other luxury corporation charging exorbitantly high prices does so with the implied exclusive label attached by pricing their shoes at a very high purchase price.  Perhaps Nike and Lebron could make more money by pricing the shoes at half that price where potentially more consumers would be able to purchase the shoe.  That is if they’re  thinking in terms of global appeal and wanting to be like McDonald’s which is everywhere.   Nike could do the same with the LBJ brand without contributing to a rise in violence by their price point.  Either way its up to the consumer to be smart or not smart enough to choose to purchase such an expensive shoe.

In the end it really comes down to a common sense approach to this.  If you can afford the shoes and choose to purchase them feel free to do so.  However, many who most of us would recognize as not able to afford the shoes will want them because of the status symbol recognition associated with the shoes whether they are able to afford them or not.  Close your eyes and see it.  Many urban residents living in projects will have a pair of LBJ X’s on with a cell phone they can’t afford and sagging expensive jeans meanwhile having no food in their refrigerators and bumming rides on public transportation while rocking a pair of LBJ X’s LMAO!  Funny but not funny.

Now picture this, Michael Jordan Brand releases a limited edition Jordan shoe to rival Lebron James and a price war for luxury basketball shoes ensues where Jordan prices his next shoe at $500 a pair reclaiming his spot as number 1 on and off the court in the shoe arena he helped bring to its current popularity levels.  Materialism and Capitalism hard at work.