The sneakers that got people killed. Michael Jordan’s shoes are the cause of a thousand crimes

In May 2021, the documentary “Michael and His Jordans” was released, which tells the story of the formation of snicker culture and the key role of Michael Jordan and Nike marketers in it. The film is designed to show the impact the company has had on the culture and to plant a question in the minds of viewers – is the brand responsible for all the crimes people commit for their product?

Why did this question arise? How did the sneakers cause the crimes? And is there a positive side to all of this? Let’s try to figure it out.

A new cultural code

If 5-7 years ago sneakers could be called a trend, then today it is already a whole direction and an independent, separate culture.

Sneakerheads (then they were also called simple collectors) appeared in the early 1980’s – then the same sneakers themselves finally turned from inventory to a separate item of closet of any urban dweller. But the mass obsession with sports shoes began to talk about only in the 2000s. Today, the sneaker market is a huge structure that includes not only the manufacturer and the end user, but also marketers, celebrities, resellers, collectors and very few sports fans.

In April 2021, the world was stunned by the news that one pair of sneakers sold for $1.8 million. They were the Nike Air Yeezy 1 – so far the most expensive pair of sneakers in history. It has long been obvious that neither the material nor the quality of workmanship do not interest buyers as much as the story behind the product. In this case, the buyer purchased a one-of-a-kind pair of shoes, which was released by Nike together with rapper Kanye West. Now Kanye has partnered with adidas and is hardly Nike’s main competitor in the market.

Being able to buy sneakers brings fans closer to the idol or culture they belong to. Unfortunately, history knows instances when the desire to possess a cherished pair turns into an obsession.

Wounded, injured, murdered

The first sad news about crime for the sake of the coveted shoes began to appear in 1989, right after the release of the third number Air Jordan. Teenagers were found strangled, with knife and bullet wounds. And all of them barefoot.

The 2015 documentary Sneakerheadz said there were about 1,200 murders over sneakers. There is no confirmation of these words, but as eyewitnesses said, this figure is very similar to the truth, or maybe even an underestimate.

In the 90’s Nike invested more than $200 million annually in advertising, and teenagers who did not have the opportunity to buy shoes “like Michael”, felt like outcasts. An active advertising policy only made things worse – teens wanted what was on TV, what Michael Jordan himself was wearing.

It is important to say that other status items of clothing, such as team jackets or baseball caps, also pushed teenagers to violence, but the crimes associated with “Jordans” were more resonant exactly as much as the advertising of the brand worked more effectively. Nike wasn’t just selling sneakers, it was selling a dream. What was designed to inspire fans only exacerbated inequality and the desire to become rich.

Public outcry

On May 14, 1990, Sports Illustrated, an American sports magazine, ran a large feature titled “Sneakers or Life,” citing Jordan’s own reaction to the first news of the teenager’s murder:

I can’t believe it. I thought people would try to replicate all the good things I do, would try to accomplish something, to be better. I never thought that because of my sneakers or any other thing, people would start hurting each other. Everyone wants to be adored, but when kids are really killing each other, you have to reevaluate some things in life.

Even though it’s been over 30 years since the article was published, it’s still the most comprehensive and up-to-date study on the topic of teen murders over sports-branded items.

In 2015, Complex revisited the topic and stated a fact: 25 years after Sports Illustrated’s provocative cover story, society is different, but much of what we thought might have changed hasn’t; much of what we wanted to change won’t materialize for a while yet.

Today

More than 30 years have passed since the first air Jordan was released, but the problem of crime has not receded. Today there are so many brands and models of sneakers to choose from, but people still want to be like Michael, Kanye West, Travis Scott or LeBron James.

Since the beginning, society has been divided into two camps in answering the question “who’s to blame?”. Some blame it all on brands launching powerful advertising campaigns and not giving young, mentally unstable people a chance not to want that particular pair of shoes. Others take a broader view and see these products as nothing more than a litmus test for society.

I belong to the second camp, defining the problem not in the first “numbers,” but in the conditions of life, where for some, new sneakers equal one dinner, and for others, an unattainable dream and source of cruelty.

Crimes based on the desire to possess something inaccessible were born much earlier than snicker culture – killed for expensive watches, fur coats and jewelry. The wave of sneaker-related crimes became so resonant because for most of society, sneakers were not associated with luxury goods in terms of real value.

Now we have a huge industry with heroes to emulate and tens of thousands of people willing to pay big bucks for the right to own a piece of that world. It is much easier now than it was 30 years ago to recognize that society is sick, and luxury goods are a symptom, not a cause.

I would like to finish with the words of director Spike Lee, who participated in the realization of the advertising campaign of the first “Jordans”:

I want to work with Nike to solve the special problems of urban black youth, but the problem is not shoes.