Crowds fighting to buy a $125 pair of Nike Air Jordans

WTF? I'm speechless. I saw this little news story from Sacramento this morning.

FLORIN MALL FIGHTS - Fights Erupt As Crowds Gather For New Shoes
Nike Air Jordans Sell For $125 A Pair

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Fights erupted at an area mall over the weekend as large crowds gathered to buy a newly released pair of shoes.

Dozens lined up outside Florin Mall Saturday hoping to get a pair of Nike Air Jordans, but after trouble started, authorities were forced to shut down the entire mall.

"It was crazy. People were running and screaming .... there was like six or seven cop cars here. Like four or five people got arrested," witness Rachele Delnero said.

People started lining up at 2:30 a.m.

That level of hype is typical for the $125 shoes every time a new pair is released. By Saturday afternoon, most stores were sold out.

Because of the of security problems, Florin Mall was forced to open more than an hour late Saturday.

"I think that all the fighting over shoes is ridiculous. We came here to buy a backpack for my daughter and you can't go to the mall because people are fighting over shoes that most people can't even afford. I think it's very sad," shopper Sandra Keller said.

Ernest Wong said he finally got a pair of the new shoes, but only after he left Florin Mall.

"I made a phone call to my sister and she got me (the shoes) from Arden Mall. I just walked away from it," Wong said.

Other area malls also reported long lines for Air Jordans, but there were no other reports of violence.

Florin Mall security officials declined to comment about the incident.

KCRA.com
POSTED: 11:20 am PDT September 19, 2005
UPDATED: 12:00 pm PDT September 19, 2005
Copyright 2005 by KCRA.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I can't believe that anyone in their right mind would stand in line at 2:30 in the morning for the privilege of spending $125 for a pair of tennis shoes. Further, I can't believe that anyone would find it worth fighting over.

From a marketing perspective, this must be a mandatory case study for marketing 101 students. How on earth does Nike get customers to override their common sense and reason and feel so compelled to have their product that they are willing to go to such extremes?

The product can be made in infinite quantities, so it can't be a lack of supply driving the price. Other tennis shoes can be purchased for fraction of the cost, so it can't be a low price driving the demand. The customers already have shoes on their feet, and have access to other shoes, so it can't be a critical resource. As far as I know the shoes do not have some sort of narcotic element that causes a physiological addition that overrides reason.

Nike seems to have captured lightning in a bottle with this. What is so fantastic about these shoes that make people go to these extremes? What exactly has Nike done to convince these people that they must have this? I would really, really like to know.

I can't help but thing that the answer is scarier and more sinister. I think that someone in Nike's marketing department has figured out exactly how to manipulate fear, because fear is the only emotion strong enough to so overwhelm reason. But fear of what? Fear of being left out? Fear of not being considered good enough?