Miscellaneous

[The Hock]

That's supposed to be a truck?

Don't look like a truck to me.

 

[Don Wassall]

That's supposed to be a truck?

Don't look like a truck to me.

I thought it was a car, too. When I asked someone what it was called was surprised to hear "Cybertruck."

 

[Bucky]

https://www.fastcompany.com/91227786/teslas-latest-tragic-fire-is-a-reminder-of-why-cars-need-old-school-door-handles

 

[icsept]

Ugliest Truck I've ever seen. It looks like a 5 year old playing with lego blocks.

Agreed. But my 19 year old son thinks they’re the coolest thing on the road.

 

[Phall]

I thought this article was a good read regarding Nike's tumbling reputation and stock price.

Winning isn't for Everyone - Nike Loses Ground

It's a good blend of anecdotal observation mixed with objective critique of Nike. The author writes through his lens as a conservative, race-conscious (former) professional marketer.

It resonates with me - I grew out of my Nike enthusiasm a bit with old(er) age, but the BLM stuff was a line in the sand for me. New Balance had a positive reputation around 2016, when they got some residual Trump energy for making some of their shoes here in the USA. They did not lean into that and instead went 'Nike Lite' with ebonics slogans. Since then, I've tried Diadora, Hoka, and currently Asics running shoes, which have all avoided the crowded "urban" market share.

I particularly liked this excerpt:

Community marketing is muddy, and at times corrupt (it can implicate public/private crossovers e.g. public school brand collabs, giving brands access to longterm taxpayer-funded contracts). But one crystal clear, non-morally contemptuous example of community marketing is run clubs.

Run clubs have popped up all over the country as a fixture for a laptop class hungry for human interaction. They’re surrogate communities known as great places to meet members of the opposite sex. Run With Us hosts several different run clubs in the Pasadena area. I participated in one and tweeted immediately afterwards “incels, if you want to meet women, just join a run club.”

Run clubs are also great places to meet brands. Like pharma reps courting the choicest hospitals, shoe reps court the choicest run clubs. This is community marketing at its finest—the new friends, the beautiful shoes, the potential sex…it’s all mashed into one thing.

Nike toed the waters, but then seemed to lose interest in run clubs, focusing instead on stunning and brave campaigns involving fat people, black people, and people with no legs, none of whom are into jogging.

 

[Leonardfan]

I thought this article was a good read regarding Nike's tumbling reputation and stock price.

Winning isn't for Everyone - Nike Loses Ground

It's a good blend of anecdotal observation mixed with objective critique of Nike. The author writes through his lens as a conservative, race-conscious (former) professional marketer.

It resonates with me - I grew out of my Nike enthusiasm a bit with old(er) age, but the BLM stuff was a line in the sand for me. New Balance had a positive reputation around 2016, when they got some residual Trump energy for making some of their shoes here in the USA. They did not lean into that and instead went 'Nike Lite' with ebonics slogans. Since then, I've tried Diadora, Hoka, and currently Asics running shoes, which have all avoided the crowded "urban" market share.

I particularly liked this excerpt:

This was another pretty funny excerpt:

"We titillated Basketball Americans with our sleek Hennessey parties at Complex Con, and built giant cardboard statuary gardens, like the nests of monstrous female bug-aliens, ever-pink Santas workshops with tinsel and fluff and angel wings to entrap obese women in malls throughout the country. You would be shocked at how many Americans are eager and excited to wait in line for hours to (God help us) to interact in some arbitrary forgettable way with the brands that have become their idols, in the most biblical of senses, and, of course, to post pictures of them doing so."


I've never been a fan of Nike in adulthood. Asics have always been my go to for running shoes for nearly the past 20 years. I've had a pair of Brooks here and there but Asics have been a mainstay. Good shoes, affordable, reliable in my experience. I'll never understand "sneakerheads" but again that seems to be more of a black thing too.

 

[FootballDad]

I haven't owned a pair of Nike running shoes in so long I can't remember. I do have some Nike slides that I picked up at a Nike store for peanuts in KC. I run a lot, but am also a cheapskate and am hard to fit. So no Hokas or Diadoras for me. I can usually pick up New Balance or Brooks pretty cheap at outlets and they have the 11.5 4E size that I need. Plus they are actually pretty good, especially Brooks.