Original subtitles

And I think Nike knew that.

Bengtson: You know, you had this ready-made character,

you know, and he could come in and do these commercials,

which were amazing for their day.

You know, it's like, you go back and look at, say,

Converse, with the Weapon.

They had all these guys, like, do a rap commercial.

♪ For the kind of moves that never fail ♪

♪ The Weapon's the choice of Kevin McHale ♪

♪ The same is true for Mark Aguirre ♪

♪ When I wear Weapons, I'm on fire ♪

♪ But what can the weapons do for King? ♪

♪ Why, I can do just about anything ♪

♪ You already know what they did for me ♪

ALL: What?

♪ I walked away with the MVP ♪

Announcer: Converse Weapon --

The number-one weapon in the NBA.

And it's like, you're just being too literal, almost. You know?

And Spike and Mars, they're coming out

doing these black-and-white ads,

and like, they were debuted during all-star weekend.

And, you know, I remember getting ready

to watch the NBA all-star game,

and, like, I was excited about the dunk contest.

But I was super excited

that there would be a new Air Jordan commercial.

Oh, money, money, why you want to do that to me?

Why you leave me hanging?

I got it.

Oh.

The big thing about what that campaign taught us was, again,

that you could have fun with this stuff,

and to look at the athlete as, like --

this sounds crass, but as the product.

What makes this person unique?

Why could only Jordan be in that campaign with Mars Blackmon?

Yo, Mike, what made you the best player in the universe?

Is it the vicious dunks?

-No, Mars. -Is it the haircut?

-No, Mars. -Is it the shoes?

No, Mars.

Knight: The big thing in marketing of these shoes

is that you've got to let the kid know that you get it.

But you can't do it in an obvious, stupid way.

You've got to do it in a subliminal way.

You sure it's not the shoes?

I'm sure, Mars.

-What about the shoes? -No, Mars.

Using Spike Lee, that's what that did.

And you just knew right there, just to see that,

and that magic, you just went, "This is gonna work.

We're blessed."

That's exactly what I told Wieden

when I called him after we were done shooting this.

I said, "Wieden all I can tell you is, 'we're blessed.'"

Jackson: And the nine commercials they did for the 3,

the 4, and the 5 -- brilliant.

It's just brilliant marketing, man.

You know, and for Wieden+Kennedy

to let Spike just do his thing.

You know, and let Spike and Mars and Michael

develop a relationship.

It worked. It worked beautifully.

Yo, professor, how does Mike defy gravity?

Do you know? Do you know? Do you know? Do you know?

Michael Jordan overcomes the acceleration of gravity

by the application of his muscle power in the vertical plain,

thus producing a low altitude Earth orbit.

A what? -Do you know what I mean?

Do you know? Do you know? Do you know?

Knight: What the hell is Nike doing?

This wasn't Spike 40 years later,

winning academy awards,

and becoming one of the greatest directors in the world.

This was Spike as a young guy, you know, coming right off of

"Do The Right Thing," and all these things,

where America, again, was in unrest.

We're in now the eighties.

And we're putting a black guy on television

to sell shoes to white America.

Most sneaker heads will look at those spots,

and say those are the best basketball commercials ever.

And I really think those ads reshaped Nike advertising.

And I think it introduced Nike into popular culture,

rather than just the top pyramid of, you know,

high-performance athletes.

I mean, this was the Nike for the rest of us.

See, that's the thing that really happened, was Spike Lee.

Spike Lee, in my opinion,

is the father of what you call this sneaker culture.

He would be the father.

Because no Spike, no commercials about the shoes.

Let me repeat myself.

This you can buy.

You cannot do this.

Can. Can't.

Can.

Kent: It ain't the shoes, it's Michael Jordan, but no.

You believe, now, it's the shoes.

Spike Lee happened.

When he got in "Do The Right Thing,"

and said "my sneakers are broke,"

the sneakers were a character.

Yo!

Man: Yeah?

Yo, you almost knocked me down, man.

The word is "excuse me."

Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry.

Not only just that but now you stood on my brand-new [bleep]

Air Jordans that I just [bleep] bought.

And that's all you can say, is "excuse me"?

-What you [bleep] serious? -Yeah, I'm serious.

I'll [bleep] you up quick two times.

Two times.

Who told you to step on my sneakers?

Yo, man, your Jordans are [bleep] up.

Damn, man, you might have to throw them kicks out.

"You broke my Jordans 'cause you stepped on them."

Not "You broke my sneakers," "You broke my Jordans."

The Jordans became a character.

Knight: I asked Michael later about the Spike Lee time.

He liked the guy. He thought he was okay.

He didn't particularly think the commercials were any good,

but he thought the guy was funny.

Action. Spike Lee.

No one did for marketing

what Nike and Michael did for marketing.

Nobody.

Bengtson: I mean, he became the face of everything.

Falk: We weren't trying to do anything

other than take advantage of his personality.

So, his first three deals,

as someone who starred in the Olympics,

were Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Chevrolet.

I mean, you can't get any more all-American than that.

And the fact that he was African American

broke all the barriers.

Williams: Jordan was this 6'6" black man with a bald head,

very dark-skinned, dark-complected.

That same guy without the name Michael Jordan

walking down the streets of suburban America

would have been seen as a threat.

And so, how were they able to make him not intimidating?

So, they had these kind of Jordan rules of marketing in,

you know, the way they showed him.

They embodied why Jordan was able to penetrate,

and get into white America, because he made white America

feel as if he was just like them.

And I think Nike, Hanes, Ballpark, Gatorade

did a fabulous job of really crafting this brand

to a lot of white people to accept him into their homes.

Williams: He made white America feel as if he was just like them.

And I think Nike, Hanes, Ballpark, Gatorade

did a fabulous job of really crafting this brand

to a lot of white people to accept him into their homes.

Woman: Michael Jordan used to be a superstar.

Now I'm an Ultra Star.

-Ultra soft... -Is Ultra Star.

-Ultra clean... -Is Ultra Star.

Announcer: The ultra in men's haircare.

-Ultra sexy.

-He's Ultra Star.

Jackson: You know, so to see a young black dude come into that space,

and be able to sell America about everything,

and make it believable was,

you know, areas uncharted for us.

You know, Ali was huge, you know, for us.

Jackie Robinson was huge for us.

Reggie Jackson was massive, you know, for a black community.

But at some point, there was still a disconnect

between, you know, general America --

especially white America -- and those athletes.

You know, a lot of times, you had to remove the blackness

for them to remove the blackness

in order for them to see this person

as being what they would say just American.

Ever need to rent a car fast?

♪ Nobody does it better ♪

In order for America to accept that black person,

there had to be some level of this person

conforming to the other side,

and distancing themselves

from their quote, unquote "blackness."

Nobody has more of what it takes to get you

into a new LTV or other fine car faster.

For the non-African American side of this country

to accept him, and find comfort in who he was.

And I think it also came with a sense of authenticity

that Michael didn't try to sell himself

out of who he was as a person.

You know, Michael never tried to be something that he wasn't.

He was like, "You're gonna accept me

for who I am in America."

And I think America somehow tapped into that sensibility.

We tapped into this authenticity.

You can say a lot of things about Michael Jordan.

He is by no means Malcolm X, alright?

He chose to be silent on things.

But you never sensed that he rejected being black.

Like, you felt like he was very proud of being black.

And while I know Jordan will never be considered

to be some kind of revolutionary,

what he did, in terms of global marketing,

and giving other black athletes a blueprint to do that,

was quite revolutionary.

And showing other brands that you can put a black face

on a Fortune 500 company, and make a ton of money.

I don't want to say his marking is overstated,

because, obviously, that was a big deal.

But at the same time, you know, I think it can't be said enough,

like, what he did on the court

still was what mattered more than anything.

If he didn't perform on the court the way he did,

those shoes wouldn't have sold.

♪♪

Bengtson: The fact that he came out, and was as good as he was,

and was as photogenic as he was,

and was as, you know, transcendent as he was,

that's what made all the difference.

Those brilliant ads don't translate

with Michael Jordan coming off the bench.

It sure as hell made my job easy.

I mean, you just watch what he did,

and then you make a spot about it.

♪♪

Jackson: If you look at the year Michael had in '88,

when they released the 3,

that quietly can be one of the greatest seasons

anybody has ever had.

You don't win MVP,

scoring title, Defensive player of the Year,

All-star MVP, you know what I'm saying?

There's nothing else that guy didn't win that year,

with the exception of a finals MVP and a championship.

We had never seen a season like that.

Everything he was doing correlated to those shoes.

And we bought into that because what was the tag line

they were selling us?

"Is it the shoes? Is it the shoes?"

Mars Blackmon keep ingraining that in our head.

"Is it the shoes?"

And that concept played into his entire career,

as far as his shoes were concerned.

What did Michael do in those particular shoes?

And the moments he would have in certain shoes

became their own quote, unquote, "phenomenon."

Every ring he won attached themselves to the shoes

he was wearing when he won those rings.

In the early nineties, he began challenging for the NBA title.

He began winning on a big level.

♪♪

♪♪

Jackson: What Michael Jordan was able to do

on the backs of Julius Erving and Bird and Magic

was take it to that Babe Ruth place,

where basketball basically had become ingrained

in the country's entire consciousness

to put it in a stratosphere

that we didn't know this game could exist.

That's what he was able to do.

Telander: I mean, when I was following the Bulls, there, at the end --

you know, I've been around rock bands too,

but when I'm following, there, at the end,

it was like what the Beetles were -- people screaming.

And then, you had Michael Jordan.

You had Paul and John rolled into one.

Jackson: It was equivalent to, like, you know,

what is the Isley Brothers' next album?

What's the next Stevie Wonder project?

What's Michael Jackson gonna follow up,

you know, "Thriller" with?

That's what Jordan was like.

You know, alright, it was on that level.

You know, it was sort of a time when a lot of

African American contributions became much more mainstream.

You know, you had Prince. You had Michael Jackson.

You know, and Michael Jordan,

he was basketball's version of that.

Williams: You saw Jordan everywhere.

He had so many brand associations.

And so, it made you want to be like Jordan.

And so, you had kids trying to emulate him,

you know, in everything they did --

not just on the basketball courts,

on the streets, but also in their life.

And the Jordan brand, the sneaker,

it really allowed us to be able to do that

for the first time.

Telander: We recognized something in Michael Jordan instinctively,

that this was beauty, and that I wanted some of that.

How can I get close to it?

How can I get ahold of this?

So, with this rampant consumerism,

the shoes that had never been marketed this way,

the advertisement they had,

you said, "Damn, man, I can't be Michael Jordan

but I can have this piece of what he represents."

Williams: I mean, you think about its impact on even,

you know, pop culture and hip hop.

I mean, it's hard press to find any rapper's catalog,

and he doesn't mention Jordan at some point.

You think about probably the most beloved black sitcom

of the 1990s, "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

Right there in the opening credits, what is he wearing?

You know, the Jordan shoe, I believe it was the Jordan 5.

♪ Now, this is a story all about how ♪

♪ My life got flipped turned upside down ♪

♪ And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there ♪

♪ I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air ♪

And also, what had happened in the last 20 years

are the shoe collectors.

And it became fanatical to get them.

Powell: So, the retro is really based on products

that emulate the original product.

We don't make shoes like we did in 1985 any longer.

So, we can't make the shoe exactly like it was

with the Jordan 1.

But we make shoes that look like the Jordan 1.

So, when we talk about a retro shoe,

it's a shoe that's very close to the original product.

And the bulk of the Jordan sales were coming out of retro.

I mean, I'm confounded by the rapidity of the whole thing.

I believe I'm the biggest collector of Air Jordan shoes

in the United States.

Currently, I have 1,175 shoes in my collection.

They start in a corner back there,

and they just come all the way around by the numbers.

I have some spaces in between.

If I pick up new shoes, I won't have to just move

all of the cases all the way around.

But my favorites are the 8s.

I call them "the great 8s."

That was his greatest playoff season of the six championships.

Back in 1985, I was in college.

I had watched MJ from 1981, and he went to the NBA.

And then, I saw these red and white shoes.

That was the first shoe I bought with my own money.

I wear them on the first of every year.

They are from 1985.

$65.

That was the price. But back then, $65,

this was the most expensive basketball shoe in 1985.

Everything that has come after these was because of this.

And you know, I have the Jumpman tattoo on my arm.

It's his style of play. It's his passion.

And it's also what he did as a basketball player

in these shoes, you know, is what means a lot to me.

And for me, it's more than just the shoes, you know?

It's the memorabilia, too.

I have the Wheaties boxes, and...

[ Rattles ]

I never took the seal off of it.

It was just a collector's piece to me.

And now, I have 18 different boxes,

from the mini boxes to the big boxes.

And I've been offered tens of thousands of dollars

just for these cereal boxes.

Original Gatorade bottle.

This has been here since 1992.

Never popped the top on it.

Wouldn't recommend drinking this.

I've been doing this for, you know, 33-plus years.

I don't get free stuff.

This is stuff that I've bought.

This is all blood, sweat, and tears.

This is something that I've taken on since 1985,

that I like to do.

I like to change shoes.

Sometimes, I change my shoes three or four times a day,

just so I can get a chance to wear everything.

But 1,175 pairs, I might not get to wear a shoe again

for three years.

The insurance policy for my entire collection,

everything -- shoes, memorabilia, everything --

is over $1 million.

It's just so much history and passion behind collecting shoes

that I'm in it till the end.

I'm not gonna stop.

Salman: I mean, it's addiction.

It's -- You know, anybody who does stuff like that,

it's partially addiction.

You know, it could be good, it could be bad,

but it's an addiction.

It becomes a habit.

It becomes, like, you know, a contest,

and a competition for a lot of these people.

♪♪

[ Speaks Japanese ]

Ruddy: For sure, I haven't worn any of the Jordan 1s here.

My intent was not to wear them.

My intent was to make a line-up of the shoes,

and to have a nice display in my home

and so that I could watch them after work,

like you watch TV, and just enjoy.

The addiction was fueled because of Jordan.

Jordan is an amazing guy.

When you look at this box,

it's hard to keep a box like this,

for 30 years, in this condition.

That's the original paper.

You see?

You can smell it. You can smell time.

You can smell history.

Now, when I tell you I spend $8,000 just for these two shoes.

Yeah, when I have a set back, I realize, yeah,

it's out of control to spend that much money.

Yeah.

It's this modern American story.

I mean, you have -- in the turn of the 19th century you had,

you know, your C.W. Post for Post Cereal

and your John and Will Kellogg,

and how they created Kellogg's, and your Milton Hershey's.

You say Hershey bar, but you're talking about Milton Hershey.

You're talking about a man.

You' talking about Ford, you're talking about a man.

You think about all these brands that we consume,

and we don't even make them synonymous

with the people that created them, but they are.

And now, for the first time,

black people have that with the Jordan brand.

And so, I think, what we were able to see

is something in modern day that we've never seen before.

Can you really name another black founded

controlled brand like that?

That is just synonymous with one name,

that lives and breathes on it's own?

I think that's why the African Americans

love it so much, and they covet it,

because it's kind of our brand.

Lazenby: People all over the globe,

obviously, are collecting these shoes.

And what happens when things are collected?

It drives up the value.

And now, people are taking these Air Jordans,

they're wearing them with tuxedos.

Something had happened, and it all filtered through

the world of Nike

and the world of Michael Jordan himself.

And if you're a kid, your status symbol was your $100 sneakers.

You're not buying something like that to hide it.

The shoes gained, very quickly, a huge street value

in American culture.

And so, suddenly, it spawned violence and robbery.

Hill: The demand of his product,

and products with his name on it,

had reached a point where crimes were basically being committed

to obtain product that he was selling.

Telander: There's always been style, and there's always been people

wanting to keep up with the Jones's.

I mean, you can go back to caveman era,

you know, somebody's got a cooler cheetah-skin belt on,

or loin cloth.

If you want that, you might take a club, and whack him for it.

But here we are, in a civilized society,

and the Jumpman logo of the Air Jordans

had become so important as a status symbol --

kids, teenagers are seeing this status symbol,

and they're actually killing each other for these --

for shoes.

I mean, the thing I remember best

is still Rick Telander's cover story in Sports Illustrated.

I feel like the sneakers were a focal point

because it was something relatively new.

Telander: I think I've got it in here somewhere.

I keep all my Sports Illustrated files up here.

So, that was 1990.

Well, I remember the shocking aspect of this cover.

You have to look at it.

It's so dark, and you can't tell what you're looking at.

And then, you realize it's a guy with a gun,

he's grabbing the shoes that are hanging over the shoulder.

I haven't looked at this article in, I would say, 24 years.

It's mind-blowing.

I mean, it really is.

Is it the shoes? Money? It's got to be the shoes.

It's Mars Blackmon to Michael Jordan in a Nike commercial.

"For 15-year-old Michael Eugene Thomas,

it definitely was the shoes.

A ninth grader at Meade Senior High School,

Thomas was found strangled on May 2nd, 1989.

Charged with first-degree murder was James David Martin, 17,

a basketball buddy."

The kid was murdered, and left in the woods

for a pair of two-week old shoes.

It's just...

I don't know.

It's, you know, within it is something so primitive

and wrong that it -- it's just obvious.

But on the other side of it is, what led you to this?

What led you to think that that status symbol could possibly,

possibly be worth somebody's life?

Like so many problems,

there's an answer that seems very simple.

Throw the kid away.

Put him jail, throw the key away.

And there's answers that are very complex.

And it's always easy to take the easy answer,

and just crack down more on the law.

But how about solving the problems

that lead somebody to this in the first place,

that would feel so dispossessed that they would think

that a life is worth somebody's shoes.

Telander: What led you to this?

What led you to think that that status symbol could possibly,

possibly be worth somebody's life.

Like so many problems,

there's an answer that seems very simple.

Throw the kid away.

Put him jail, throw the key away.

And there's answers that are very complex.

And it's always easy to take the easy answer,

and just crack down more on the law.

But how about solving the problems

that lead somebody to this in the first place,

that would feel so dispossessed that they would think

that a life is worth somebody's shoes.

So, it's really a story about scarcity.

The idea is that the brand sells out every Saturday morning

when shoes are released, and consumers come back

the next Saturday for another shot at it.

And it's interesting we're talking about scarcity

with a $3 billion brand.

But they have been able to build this up over time by making sure

that they never had enough supply to meet the demand.

Lazenby: Are Nike officials wringing their hands with glee

over those profits and growth?

Yes.

But that becomes very, very awkward

when you consider the ugly elements of that.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, shoes were just shoes.

And basketball shoes were no more glamorous

than any other piece of sports equipment.

That was before Michael Jordan learned how to fly.

When his success went through the roof,

the shoes he endorsed for Nike went right along with him.

And now, critics say they are flying just a little too high.

Air Jordans are expensive, exclusive, and hard enough

to get that some children lie, steal, even kill for them.

A boy was robbed after school.

It turns out, the bandit was after his shoes.

Woman: Part of the problem is that each store

has a limited amount of about 150 pairs.

Male: Reporter: He saw a gun under the guy's shirt, and then a demand.

Female Reporter: Each pair costs about $180,

but they resale on eBay for almost $500.

A neighbor killed him over a pair of Air Jordans.

He will be buried tomorrow

on what would have been his 17th birthday.

Man: Two young men had come home from Willowbrook Mall.

They had pairs of the new Air Jordan sneakers.

Two men attacked them with guns as they pulled up to this house.

One of them jumped out, ran door to door,

trying to get help, while the other

jumped into the driver's seat,

tried to drive away, but he was shot at least once in the head.

The car careened out of control, hit the side of this house,

ruptured a gas line, and then the gunman got away.

All of this, this attack

was over a pair of those new Jordan shoes.

Retail value $185.

That may be the price of a young man's life.

♪♪

Daisy: My name is Daisy Williams, and this mall here is the mall

that my son went to purchase his Air Jordan tennis shoes.

My son left this mall, headed home,

but he never made it safely home to me.

Four gentlemen followed him in their own vehicle,

and they pulled in front of him,

and got out the car, and demanded the shoes.

They started shooting at him.

They shot my son in the head, and he crashed into a home.

♪♪

This is the scene, right there.

This is -- oh, this is -- this just brings chills to me.

I haven't been here -- I haven't been here in a long time.

There was about 23 shell casings.

The shoes were on the ground.

Again, there were a pair of shoes here.

There were a pair of shoes over there.

If you Google man shot and killed over Air Jordan sneakers,

it's an actual video where it shows my son.

It doesn't show my son sitting in the car,

but it shows the car still running.

It shows the ambulance wheeling him around here,

and putting him in the car.

and you can hear my daughter screaming, like,

"Let us -- please let us get in with you."

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Woman: I was at home.

I had just got off the phone with him,

like five minutes before. Told him I loved him,

And five minutes later,

his friend called me, and told me he got shot.

And when we got to the scene, I just ran up to the car,

and I seen him.

And I just kept saying, "Josh, you got to get up.

It's your sister."

I just kept saying he had to get up.

Daisy: And me and my fiance, his father,

we was standing behind the yellow tape.

And we say "Let's just see, when they put him on the stretcher,

will they put the sheet over him."

'Cause you look at the movies,

if they put that sheet over him, we know he gone.

And they took him out.

They had his face wrapped up.

But they never put the sheets over him.

And I was like, "Okay, my son gonna be okay."

Man: Stay back.

And we followed the ambulance to the hospital.

And at 5:35, they pronounced him dead.

These were the pair of shoes that he was buried in --

the Kilroys.

Me and my mom had to pick out

what he was gonna be buried in.

And my brother never wore a suit and tie,

so it was like, we want him to be buried in something that,

if he was alive, he would, you know, wear.

That would just make me feel happy, I guess,

to be buried in the same shoes that he was buried in.

And Michael Jordan sent us some shoes, and I have those.

Well, it's just one pair.

Man: Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Michael Jordan sent you shoes? -Yes.

But it -- to me, it just was like,

like, if a kid's crying, you give a kid candy,

they're gonna stop crying.

I just felt like that's what it -- that's what it was.

But the shoes that he sent, they were 28s.

They're black and lime green.

When he sent us those, they weren't out yet.

If I was to wear these down the street,

if people look and say "Well, they not even out yet,

and she have them," and then I die,

then my mom has another kid that was buried over --

I mean, that was killed over shoes.

So, I waited until, like, a month

after they came out to wear them.

I'm always going back to these pictures.

This picture was after he purchased his shoes,

and they were in the car.

He actually got out the car, and just took a picture of them.

And they were -- proceeded to head home,

and not realizing they were being followed

at that time, actually.

This is my son's blood in the car.

Looking at the pictures, I -- I just...

If you don't mind, if we could stop for a little bit?

♪♪

Woman: I'm not ready for trial, but I'm just ready for --

for them to see us, and know who Josh was,

and what they took from us.

All over a pair of shoes.

Daisy: Alright. Are y'all ready?

You nervous?

Just take a deep breath.

You know, we doing this for Joshua.

Man: We ask almighty God that you give us the strength.

We ask that you gives us your spirit.

Joshua cannot be here with us today.

We thank you for waking us up, again, once again,

so that we can be here in his absence, and in his stead.

We begin with a Houston murder case making national headlines.

Female Reporter: 22-year-old Joshua Woods was shot and killed

for his new pair of Air Jordans.

Male Reporter: Daisy Williams watched with the rest of us

as the prosecution brought us back to that day in December,

right before Christmas.

He raises the, gun and fires, and then fires and fires

and fires, as the car looses control,

and crashes into the neighbor's house.

I mean, it's just ludicrous to think that anybody would take

another human being's life over pairs of sneakers.

Daisy: My son is not the first one, and I hope and pray

to the good lord that he's the last one.

But we got to do something.

Nike, they have a responsibility in this.

And they have to do something.

And if nothing happens, we'll see more cases like this.

You'll see more mothers and fathers like me.

You'll see more mothers and fathers

like the accused killers.

The Woods family says that they want Nike to reconsider

how they market their Air Jordan sneakers,

so that something like this never happens again.

Man: And for those who don't understand the process

by which Nike markets and sells these Air Jordans,

what they do is, they create a propaganda campaign...

Is it the shoes?

Money, it's got to be the shoes.

...that stirs up the minds of young people,

and makes them want these shoes so bad.

But then, they put out only a few of them.

Man #2: One pair per customer.

And it's like, if you have birds,

let's say, on your porch,

and you throw out a few seeds. Well, what's going to happen?

Those birds are hungry.

If they really want to eat bad enough,

they'll begin fighting one another.

And unfortunately, this propaganda scheme by Nike,

that has been endorsed by Michael Jordan,

is working on so many inner-city youth across America.

And in this particular case, it went so far

that a young man lost his life.

Daisy: That's a good question.

I actually extended an invitation to them

to be here today.

Unfortunately, I don't see them here.

Man: Nike is not here because Nike doesn't care.

Michael Jordan isn't here because he cares even less.

They will take Joshua Woods' money,

but when he loses his life for the very shoes

that he purchased from them,

all of a sudden, we don't hear from them.

In corporate America, unfortunately,

profit is more important than human life.

And maybe that's trickling down

into the younger generation here in America,

why they think that materialism is more important

than human life.

Woman: It just hurts.

'Cause you never think somebody's life

will be taken over a pair of shoes.

And it's like, when my daughter gets older,

and when his son gets older, we have to tell them,

you know, the real story, like, why he was taken away.

And that hurts.

How do you explain to a kid that their father and their uncle

is gone over a pair of shoes?

It doesn't make sense.

Daisy: I was born and raised here in Houston.

My children, my son and my daughter,

was born and raised here.

I didn't ask for this.

This was brought to me.

And most people, they wouldn't have survived this.

I am in no way, shape, or form blaming Nike for my son's death.

But they can say something.

If your son, or if your daughter,

was Joshua Woods,

whatever you would do if that if was your child,

that's what I'm asking you to do.

♪♪

Telander: I thought, when it happened,

that this was likely a -- just a flash point.

But it hasn't passed.

It's as though the Air Jordan, the Jumpman,

has become almost like a symbol.

It symbolizes so much more.

It symbolizes something that can actually make people happy.

It's at the root of all advertising.

It's advertising that worked too well.

Bengtson: I mean, the fact is it's still going on now,

and, you know, it's kind of unfortunate that

Rick wrote that cover story 25 years ago,

and you're still seeing this stuff happen now.

Williams: Jordan's sneakers,

they're jewels in the eyes of young black kids.

And when you have these types of jewels,

and you wear these types of jewels on your feet,

especially in the neighborhoods

where wealth and status is scarce,

but heavily coveted,

you have things like this happen.

Hill: The truth is, when you have people,

especially these people who are within proximity to one another,

in a community that's underserved,

that every signal, every message that they get

is that people don't care about what happens to you.

They don't care about offering you any opportunity

to achieve this American dream, then, you begin to take on,

as they say, the traits of the oppressor.

It becomes sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy,

where nobody else thinks my life is worth anything,

so why should I think somebody else's life is worth something?

And so, unfortunately, things like Jordans

become very big status symbols

in communities of color, and communities

that are historically and presently underserved.

And the value of life is just not as appreciated

when, you know, you're hearing from every corner of society

how much you're not worth.

It's hard for you to look at yourself as worthy,

and certainly see that worth in somebody else.

Jackson: You can't ever look at a place

that's gonna teach you wrong to treat you right.

Our history here in America has not been one of correctness,

as far as treatment is concerned.

So, to ask a subculture inside this business,

you know, model that America has built on our backs,

to a large degree.

All of a sudden, we start wilding out on each other

for that, to ask America to step in.

You know, yeah, Michael Jordan could probably have taken

a stronger stance on this, but at the end of the day,

we're still asking Nike to do something.

Lazenby: The real problem is they don't want to address it

in a meaningful way.

It is a big challenge, but there has to be something meaningful

to find a way to stop this trend.

Lazenby: The real problem is they don't want to address it

in a meaningful way.

It is a big challenge, but there has to be something meaningful

to find a way to stop this trend.

Telander: Where does the responsibility lie?

And really, you do start at the top.

So, if the Air Jordans are in the image of Michael Jordan,

shouldn't he have some say about what's going on?

And part of the criticism of Jordan is legitimate,

that he has not been a social leader.

And other people say -- and I could argue, too --

why should he be? He did enough on the court,

he did enough as a businessman,

to transcend any kind of criticism

you might want to lay on him for not having gone out there,

and marched, and had some big social program.

You know, why don't you help these kids

instead of exploiting them?

Knight: I always wondered if it's one of the things that he regrets,

that he didn't step in at a certain time,

and say, "Hey, knock it off."

I don't know what kids would have done,

but it couldn't have hurt.

You know, could he have done more?

Yeah, he could have done more.

You know, but Nike, as a company,

should have done more, too, possibly, if they really cared.

Nike has a history of standing by their athletes, right?

And when they get into trouble,

unless they're really in trouble,

like Lance Armstrong,

they stand with them very late in the game.

Brands used to be afraid to share their values.

And now, the consumer says,

"No, I want the brand to tell me what their values are."

And I think this is a piece of that corporate ethos now.

Nike will certainly more than not

be looked at on the right side of history --

as long as people aren't naive

as to why they're on the right side of history.

Not on the right side of history

because they felt some deep moral obligation.

They're on the right side of history

because it made them money.

They understand, especially as a company

that was kind of built on rebellion,

that they understand

that rebellion is an attractive quality.

It's attractive in the marketplace, you know?

The kids -- You needs kids to certainly buy the shoes,

but you need them to push it, and push it,

and make it a cultural staple.

And so, Nike understands that

so it makes all the sense in the world for them to appear

as if they care about social justice.

Bengtson: Obviously, the responsibility spreads out.

You know, obviously, there's some degree of responsibility

on virtually everyone, from the company down to the criminal.

You know, when I look back at the way

that first Air Jordan release happened,

and when they released it in 1985,

the initial supply sold out immediately.

You know, stuff was just gone.

And people were getting robbed for their Air Jordans

back then, in 1985.

Or people were getting offered an absurd amount of money

for them in the street, immediately after buying them,

'cause they just couldn't get them.

So, you know, Nike's response to this

was kind of what people want them to do now.

They made more. They made a lot more.

And that second wave of Air Jordans came out,

you know, which I'm sure did help to a degree.

And a lot of people did buy them

who couldn't have gotten them the first time.

But unfortunately, a lot of them sat, too, you know?

And there were original Air Jordans

available two years later,

three years later, for virtually nothing.

Nike, first and foremost, and Jordan first and foremost,

I mean, they're billion-dollar businesses.

You know, they didn't get that way by doing things

like over-production.

You know, and I think they've kind of honed their tactics

to the point where, you know,

they know that, yes, they're never gonna make enough

for everybody who wants them to get them.

But I think they also understand,

if they make so many that they don't sell through,

and they wind up going on sale, it ends up hurting their brand.

Williams: Nike has been very, very passive,

and kind of, for the most part, stood back on this.

But Nike also, you know, has a little blood

on their hands, too, when it comes to this.

Because they kind of created this sense of urgency --

this is sense of demand.

And I think that type of mindset has kind of carried on

through the entire legacy of the brand.

I don't think it was intentional by Nike, at all.

However, they kind of created,

from the start, of, "This is something rare.

This is something you have to get your hands on."

Telander: The desire to have what somebody else has

because you don't have it is still there.

And, yes, there are still crimes for these shoes,

for these products.

The things that you walk in,

the things that you need just to get through a day,

those things have taken on a significance

that they never had,

and it's all because of Air Jordans.

♪♪

Letterman: Alright, now, Michael, is this shoe.

Now, of course, we can't show what kind of shoe this is.

That's okay. The color will stand for it.

But is this the shoe that the NBA wouldn't let you wear?

Yeah.

Now, why wouldn't they let you wear it? Just because it's ugly?

[ Laughter ]

It's just a joke.

It's just a joke, you know what I mean?

And here, we have the new improved Air Jordan.

With some white in it.

Yeah, with some white in it.

Now, you get a little something

for each of these sold, don't you?

Yeah. You working at it.

What a deal. What a deal.

♪♪

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