Nike
Pop culture fans rejoiced on Sept. 9 as Nike announced it was releasing 1,500 pairs of the 2011 Nike MAG shoe, a replica of the futuristic high-tops sported by Marty McFly in Back to the Future 2. With a starting bid of 99 cents on eBay, they were going for $2,000 within 20 minutes. (Proceeds go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation.)
It isn’t the first time Nike’s tapped into this nostalgia. In 2008, it released a limited edition basketball shoe in similar colours to Mcfly’s high-tops; and in 2010, news broke that Nike had patented an “automatic lacing system,” suggesting a release of McFly’s self-lacing sneaker was imminent. (The new MAGs don’t self-lace.) Nike CEO Mark Parker has called it the “greatest shoe never made,” and it will probably stay that way. Instead of releasing it to the masses, Nike can keep doing limited editions—coasting on fans’ goodwill like Marty McFly on a hoverboard.
