New Cheech & Chong Shoe Intersects Brand and Culture for Nike

We all know Nike. It's one of those ubiquitous brands that transcends race, gender, class, age or sport.  From the Michael Jordan basketball ads of yesterday to the simple "Just do it" branding ads aimed at encouraging people to be active, Nike advertising consistently delivers on passion and emotion - connecting imagery and icons with ease.

Just how far will Nike go to connect with its potential customers is evidenced with its new Nike SB Dunk High 420 Cheech & Chong shoe, a skateboarding shoe with a lot of hype around it and rightfully so.  From the name itself to the marijuana-green laces, this is a shoe that is obviously designed to attract some attention. Sources say Nike plans to produce just 1,000 pairs of the Cheech & Chong shoes -  certainly driving the cost demand for such a product through the roof. Some similar niche shoes created by Nike in the past have commanded hundreds of dollars.

I'm interested in your opinion here. Should Nike, a global brand representing athletes in virtually every sport on the planet be promoting a shoe so obviously associated with smoking pot? Personal views aside, isn't this product a little skewed from Nike's inspirational, encouraging "Just do it" tagline? That is unless Just do it also embodies the meaning of Just do drugs. So please share your thoughts: is this a harmless campaign aimed at connecting Nike with pot-smoking skateboarding aficianadios or a campaign that advocates pot-smoking among young adults, who are generally the individuals into skate-boarding?

New Nike "Believe in the Run" Spot - Another Great Demonstration of the Nike Brand

Okay, just watched the new Nike "Believe in the Run" spot and I am literally ready to jump out of my office chair, run home, throw on my Asics and my running gear and hit the pavement. Wow! I'm including the link to the video (below) on the blog so you can watch it.

http://www.adgabber.com/video/video/show?id=546804%3A160971

The Nike brand is simply one of the best brands in the world...it may be thee best brand in the world...although that's a matter of opinion. Personally, I run in Asics shoes because of the stability, but many, many, many people swear by Nike.  I also should mention that 75 percent of my running gear (shorts, pants, tops, hats) are Nike. Why? Because Nike is synonymous with style, quality and functionality. Their products look good, last for many wears and actually work. Take the Nike Dri-FIT product for example. I have several Dri-FIT shirts and I will keep buying more because they actually work.

One more thing I want to mention about Nike is that they know their audience and they have this amazing ability to target them. Back to the new running commercial...only Nike could develop a spot so emotionally and theatrically realistic to its running customers. Kudos to Nike for developing one of the coolest most innovative brands of all time and to the Nike agencies who again and again demonstrate the power of great creative.