| Product: |
Nike |
| Date: |
06/12/00 (746 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Great quality, durability and comfort.
Disadvantages: A couple of recent disappointing trainer purchases.
I have worn Nike trainers, caps and sportswear for almost ten years now, and cannot see myself changing anytime soon. It all started when for some reason or other I decided that I really needed to co-ordinate my sporting look. The more I think about this, the less sense it makes, but to this day it still bugs me when I see someone with an Adidas cap, an Umbro top, Le Coq Sportif trousers and Nike trainers. Irrational I know, but it gets on my nerves! Having developed a liking for Basketball and Michael Jordan, I plumped for Nike (who says marketing does not work?!).
The need to be seen to keep the look started with a tracksuit I needed for school. This developed on a family holiday to Florida in 1991. I picked up Nike stuff galore, including a pair of trainers, a pair of Air Jordans, three t-shirts and an Andre Agassi-style fluorescent headband (don't ask why!). The trainers were well worn, took me to college everyday and lasted for eighteen months. The Air Jordans, rarely worn, are still on the go. The t-shirts, which are fairly well worn, are still on the go and still in first class condition (unlike the freebie Umbro t-shirt I got a year ago). The headband is safely hidden with my Squash racket and is only brought out when I feel the need to distract my opponent by getting him into fits of laughter.
I have worn nothing but Nike sportswear ever since (football allegiances not including, you understand). The trainers have always been great and fantastically durable. I seem to have acquired a pair of trainers for just about every possible need, with my blue Court trainers (which I use for Squash) being the most comfortable. They are cushioned, and unlike most trainers, have been comfortable since the moment I bought them.
Most trainers have required a time of wearing in, but this has been relatively brief, comparatively painless and has been a small consideration in relation for the lifespan of the trainers themselves. My most frequent
ly worn pairs now last longer than two years, although now I work in an office so they are not on my feet seven days a week - just five evenings and all day on Saturday and Sunday!
I should point out that I have had some recent disappointments. One pair I bought on a trip to America in 1997 were very disappointing, and were almost instantly ditched in favour of the two-year old pair which were on their last legs (which I got another six months out of - for £32.99 in a sale I was extremely chuffed with them). Also the most recent pair I bought have pinched my toes a bit, and the backs are breaking down significantly after eighteen months worth of wear. Still not bad considering that I have yet to buy a pair of trainers which have cost more than £50, but I would like to see an improvement in my next pair.
The rest of Nike's sportswear is also very nice. I tend to wear their white sports socks at weekends, as they are soft, cushioned, comfortable, and if you buy unique pairs they are a doddle to pair up off the washing line! A drill top I bought four years ago remains my favourite piece of relaxed clothing - even my highly fashion conscious fiancée will cunningly borrow it on occasion due to the comfort it provides. Their shorts have proved durable in spite of some hectic Squash encounters, during which my Nike wristband doubles nicely as a refreshing sponge when soaked in water and wrung out. The Tennis shirt (which I also bought for Squash) is the lightest item of clothing I have in the summer, yet is durable and can pass as smart-casual wear should it need to be.
In this day and age it seems like it is not the right to like Nike. Due to some of their factory conditions in third world countries it may even be considered politically incorrect to like Nike. Therefore I am sorry to be politically incorrect, but for the durability, quality and comfort which Nike provides me with I unashamedly say that I am a Nike fan, a committed label tart
, and will probably be so for a good while to come.
Summary:
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Last comments:
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- 08/12/00 nike are just the biggest, so therefore easiest, target, i think. And there's enough evidence readily available on them. i agree most of the other big companies probably aren't any better but isn't that a bit like saying shooting people is ok, because stabbing them to death has exactly the same effect?
I know its very hard to make ethical choices these days (i wrote another dooyoo opinion on that under "speaker's corner" but it was that comment you made about being aware of the issues that made me wonder how aware you actually are. |
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- 06/12/00 You make some fair points Dolligan, but who is to say other manufacturers do not engage in similar practices (as I recall Adidas in Pakistan have been also been called to task)? I now buy Nike products for the quality they offer. I believe that they will have to change their manufacturing processes or protests against them will increase, leading to bad publicity and a drop in sales.
However to concentrate on just one company is a bit rich in my book. As I said I'm sure they're not the only ones, but they are the victims of a particularly hostile press. In the mean time you cannot realistically change your shopping decisions upon every press story that is brought to the public eye.
And where did this "she" business come from? ;) |
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- 06/12/00 "who says marketing doesn't work" asks the auhor of this piece. which just about sums up everything wrong with thinking in this way. In fact I don't remember anyone ever saying marketing doesn't work, it's that wrong.
Buying into a brand so wholeheartdy is a worrying trend among some people that has been developing for some time. its all advertising, as was correctly noted. I wonder, however, if the author is aware that Nike pay the same amount of money to sponsor Tiger Toods for one day as they would pay 20 000 third-world sweatshop workers to work a ten hour day with two toilet breaks. The author says she is aware of the "political" issues surrounding the company and has chosen to ignore them which is fine, its a personal, informed choice. I hope it isnt one which too many other people would make, given the facts. |
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