Michael Jordan

... hey offered to name a shoe after him. The first Air Jordan shoe was a high-top black and red shoe. Three games into the season, the NBA did Michael and Nike a huge favor. The league banned the shoe because it didn't conform to the rest of the Bulls uniform. Michael continued to wear the shoe and the league subsequently fined him $5,000 a game. Nike didn't blink. They paid every penny and Michael continued to wear the shoe. It would have cost millions of dollars to come up with a promotion that produced as much publicity as the league's ban did. The first commercial showed Jordan's head, and the camera slowly moved down his body to his feet. When the camera hit the shoes a big "X" was stamped on the screen and the announcer said, "Banned". After that sales went crazy. But it was Michael's third year when his remarkable qualities where able to be portrayed through the television. Nike had hired a little known film producer named Spike Lee to direct Michael in commercials. The commercials that they make together were able to show Michael's innate charm and wit, and his obvious confidence. He knew who he was and liked who he was. There was nothing threatening about him. He was judgmental- you had to win his respect, and he was clearly shrewd about how he was used- but there was an innate coolness and elegance about him. If this was not yet expressed in ...