Nike’s ‘Mag’ self-lacing trainers, which first appeared in Back To The Future, are finally here: but the sports retailer has only made 89 pairs which it is selling in a sweepstakes to raise funds for the Michael J Fox Foundation
27 years after the movie smashed box office records, five years after Nike built its first ‘Mag’ prototype and seven months after the sports apparel brand announced an alternative line of self-lacing shoe (the ‘HyperAdapt’), Nike has finally released the 2016 Nike Mag.
But it has only made 89 pairs of the limited edition trainers and these will be distributed via an online raffle – tickets for which cost just $10.
The randomised daily online draw began in the first week of October and winners will be notified on 17 October.
Trainer fans and film lovers can buy as many tickets as they like.
All proceeds from the initiative will go to the Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF) – a fundraising body set up by the Back to the Future actor to fund research to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
The initiative is being promoted through PR, digital (http://news.nike.com/) and social channels and is spearheaded by an explanatory spot fronted by Nike chairman, president and CEO Mark Parker.
It's your turn to shape the future.
Join our fight against Parkinson's disease and enter The Draw for the #NikeMag: https://t.co/AxDNqVZDJR pic.twitter.com/hNXPmWB8UR
— Nike (@Nike) October 4, 2016
‘Though it initially shared only a few seconds of screen time with Michael, the idea behind the Nike Mag unlocked something much bigger at Nike,’ Parker said.
‘It sent us down an uncharted path of innovation, but it also opened our eyes to our ability to fight some of the world’s biggest challenges. We feel privileged for the opportunity to raise even more awareness for the fight against Parkinson’s.’
Comment
The development story is neat: as it was the Nike Mag movie-prop high-top that inspired Nike designers and engineers to work for two decades on personalised power-lacing.
Nike actually ran a similar Mag-led fundraising initiative for the MJFF back in 2011 when a prototype was auctioned and raised $10m in a 10-day programme (see case study).
Since then, so called adaptive footwear has become a reality and in Spring 2016 Nike introduced the HyperAdapt 1.0 – a performance sneaker that automatically laces up to fit to the individual, personal shape of each wearer’s foot.
While the initially shoe props were actually operated by the on-set crew who literally pulled some strings to make the shoes tighten and loosen, a Nike team led by senior innovator Tiffany Beers and Tinker Hatfield finally brought the concept to life in the HyperAdapt two decades later using a lacing engine and a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery.
Nike isn’t the only brand to leverage Fox’s Marty McFly character and Back To the Future in its marketing.
For example, last year McLaren F1 also ran a campaign directly inspired by and referencing Back to the Future (see case study)
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