Boobs! ... Reebok to its roots

Sometimes I forget about Reebok, and I feel bad about it. The little brother brand in the athletic footwear category seems like it's always playing third fiddle to Nike and adidas. They've been unsuccessful as of late in divergent brand efforts that have just clouded their own image.

Ads like this one are what Reebok should have always been about, political correctness be damned. Reebok started as a running shoe company (Reebok is an African term for Gazelle) and in the 50s began focusing on women's fitness, a category which they dominated while they stuck to it. This should be a remarkably large category, given that most women at least try to make an effort to exercise, and that most also have a thing for shoes. It would seem (and I'm basing this on anecdotal evidence) that women embrace traditional exercise (aerobics, running, etc) more than men, who would rather participate in competitive sports for their fitness.

This is why Reebok was foolish to ever diverge from this market in the first place. In the 21st century, Reebok has made deals with the NFL, NBA, and NHL to make exclusive apparel including jerseys. Reebok also created the "Rbk" brand, which they called a
"street" inspired brand which would feature signature shoes for Jay-Z and 50 Cent. Don't get me started on the Rbk Hockey brand, because I don't understand how Ice Hockey and Jay-Z are related (except that the management of the NHL has 99 problems, wah wah wah).

Reebok was purchased by adidas in 2005 and started to get back on track, primarily because big brother's first goal was to eliminate competition with itself. This left the Hockey brands, which included a total redesign of the NHL's uniforms:



It also left the original focus of Reebok, women's fitness and running shoes designed for those people not striving to be elite athletes. This explains the recent Run Easy campaign, which used the tag "stay fit as you see fit." It was an excellent idea, although as a runner I was somewhat insulted that running could be called easy. Many more people would probably take up running (and, therefore, buy Reebok) if running were positioned as being easy.

So this brings us back to the woman's talking boobs. This is certainly the first effort I've seen by a shoe advertisement to say "they'll give you a better butt" outright. People will certainly complain that it's degrading to women, it's taking advantage of women's bodies, blah blah blah, except that the ad is designed for women. This isn't something for men to slobber over (although I admit I did stop and look when it was on TV).

Overall, I just think it's a cool concept and it's good to see Reebok focusing it's message on what I perceive to be the correct target. Now here's another one to gawk at: