Reebok = LOSERS

Isn't that Carolina Kluft in the commercial? Not a distance runner, but hardly a pedestrian athlete!

Why are you apologizing for reebok? You on the payroll.

Mocking real runners?

This is serious business. I am suprised more people are taking these Marys to task.

Nike still sucks

A lot of people want the easy way out and Reebok is catering to that. I didn't see the "Crave the Pain" ad, but it seems like they are making fun of serious athletes. It might be a smart marketing tactic to attract the plodder crowd, but is it worth losing existing customers?

Not on the payroll and am not sure where I apologized for them. I don't like the campaign either because it is making fun of people like ME! I am just trying to play devils advocate here so don't bite my head off! If you think about it would you rather market to 5% of a sport or 95%? It sucks to think this is the majority of our sport, but it is.ps. Nike trainers are actually pretty decent now, try a pair out.

NY runner wrote:

Why are you apologizing for reebok? You on the payroll.

Mocking real runners?

This is serious business. I am suprised more people are taking these Marys to task.

Nike still sucks

When did Reebok become so hated? Man, in the 80s the very first HUGE WAVE of Africans to come over here and win road races were all wearing Reeboks it seemed.

Malmo, got info on this?

Sport requires competition. Their message is don't compete, don't run to win, be a fat vag. I tried to buy a pair Nikes just for casual wear and I just couldn't do it.

Marketing Major wrote:

Not on the payroll and am not sure where I apologized for them. I don't like the campaign either because it is making fun of people like ME! I am just trying to play devils advocate here so don't bite my head off! If you think about it would you rather market to 5% of a sport or 95%? It sucks to think this is the majority of our sport, but it is.

ps. Nike trainers are actually pretty decent now, try a pair out.

NY runner wrote:

Why are you apologizing for reebok? You on the payroll.

Mocking real runners?

This is serious business. I am suprised more people are taking these Marys to task.

Nike still sucks

This ad campaign will make money and market share. Reebok doesn't have any of the "competitive" athletes right now anyway except their sponsored men and women. Someone said it earlier, its mass marketing at its best. They will make so much more money catering to literally over 99% of the running community than if they say "hey lets try to sell our shoes to letsrun posters." Adidas is forking over a lot of money to revitalize the brand and they are doing a good job. Obviously the "street wear" strategy did not work to steal some market from Puma, so they are trying something different. Besides, Reebok shoes are winning lots of awards in the industry. They can't be that bad of shoes.

Nike has maybe 3 real running shoes out there. The pegasus, structure, and Vomero/Hayward. (obviously they clean up on spikes). Asics has the most market share of any company and everyone else is far behind them. Make a note of how many joggers wear asics on the bike paths next time you run.

So the point is, they don't care about the less than 1% like letsrun posters trying their shoes on. It's a business decision with a great campaign for it.

It doesn't bother me at all.

I think it is a good campaign.

Some people play horse while others play in the NBA, that is just the way Life works.

If they can get more people running, good for them.

I like the AIverson part.

i love how they use carolina kluft in their campaign. as if she got to be where she is by "running easy." just check out how reebok used her training in another ad...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfMYfp8_0Q0

Very well said. I'm amazed at the number of posters here who have no idea how business is run.

85-90% of running shoes sold will never be run in. That might clear things up for you.

too many haters out there. I use to run hard everyday because i was an athlete. Now its different, i just want to be in shape and enjoy the run rather then bust an ankle.

I didn't realize until I saw this thread and the vid that it went beyond just making slow runners comfortable with their status and belittled those who enjoy the feeling of running hard. I've seen someone stop their jog to chat on the phone, but that's the first time I've ever seen someone jabbering away while continuing to jog and someone went ahead and put it in an ad as if to say that it's a fine idea. I mean, at least slap a big, shiny bluetooth headset on the side of her face if you're going to send that message. As for the guy bumping into someone as he charges on by, why did it not show him stuck at snail pace behind the chorus line of walgers and asking them a couple of times to move aside so he could get by? I think the only time I've ever (unintentionally) bumped into someone while passing was when I made it very clear at least a couple of times that I'm trying to go by and give them plenty of time to give some space. I still don't like that I've bumped them, though I'm sure they wouldn't feel bad at all about continuing to block my way past them. I don't see what any of this would have to do with any Brooks ad campaign. You can run hard and be happy, too, you don't have to be slogging along with a post-orgasmic grin on your face to embody that concept. I'm with NY Runner on this one, Reebok just gave me a great reason to never, ever look at their shoes with any interest again. I also agree that Nike sucks. It's all good, Brooks, Asics, Fila, Mizuno, Pearl Izumi, Adidas all make fine shoes and don't go out of their way to mock anyone's ideals just to try to sell some more shoes. This just helped to narrow my selection process in buying shoes. In my experience Reebok's shoes mostly suck, anyway, so this will just try to get people to buy crap shoes. I don't care about indoor track, either, and they had a connection with one of the organizers on the ground in Boulder, Steve Jones, which is mostly why they were on board with US XC Champs this time. It's also why Reebok sponsors his training group.

addidas owns RBK now

Adidas does but Reebok still clearly develops and markets their products independently of Adidas.

true. and im definitely not condoning it, i hate these ads, but they didnt start untill after addidas aquired them. am i wrong?

my bad with the spelling

True, but Reebok shoes were also crap both before and after the aquisition. The ad agency that came up with this works for Reebok, not Adidas. I don't think Adidas has any veto power over Reebok's promotions. Adidas went after Reebok to get the apparel deals with the NBA and NFL that came with it. Adidas probably couldn't care less about Reebok's running shoes, so long as they don't completely tank in the marketplace.

Thinking about it some more, you very well could be right. Maybe Adidas is using Reebok to split the market, with Adidas going after the serious runners (they've got at least 4 different racing flats in their product line) and trying to expand into the fat penguin segment through Reebok, to chip off some of Nike's and New Balance's market share. Continue to develop Adidas as the performance brand while developing Reebok as the brand for the common man, for lack of a better term.