Over the weekend, Skechers trolled Nike by taking out advertisements in the New York Times’ sports section and in other US publications, which read "Just Blew It," and "We won't split on you," a shot at the recent malfunction of Zion Williamson's Nike PG 2.5 sneakers during a NCAA matchup.
The advertisement's moral intentions are not much better than PUMA's Twitter reaction to the malfunction, which read "Wouldn't have happened in the pumas." (The tweet was deleted shortly after.) What PUMA and Skechers both failed to realize, however, was that the brunt of their joke is an injured 18-year-old athlete reaching a very promising stage in his career.
Additionally, Skechers' advertisement offers something of an empty promise, as the brand's products are surely not exempt from the type of freak accident that led to Williamson's Nike's splitting open at the seams, something ex-Nike designer Tiffany Beers called a manufacturing issue, noting "This is a very rare incident.”
While Skechers is unlikely courting fans of limited edition sneakers and collaborations with this advertisement, it surely does place Skechers within the conversation, and puts countless eyeballs on the brand. Nonetheless, many were quick to point out that Skechers is not even active in the NCAA or NBA market.
Check out some reactions from around the web below.
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The Ugly
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