knockoff sneakers — The Deffest®. A vintage and retro sneaker blog.

The rarest Nike sneakers ever, The Nike ‘One Line’ shoes, are up for auction right now at Heritage Auctions so in the spirit of the auction we’re posting this related 1978 vintage ad by Nike. In this ad Nike asks the consumer to help them fight the tariff law by writing to them that they will pass along to Customs and Congress. In an interesting twist Nike aligns themselves with both Tiger and adidas brands in this ad.

Special thanks to friend of the blog Bob Smith for tipping us off to this ad.

Ad info is below:

HELP US GET THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S BIG FINGERS OUT OF THE RUNNER'S POCKET.

We make good shoes. We like to sell them at a fair price.

But right now bureaucrats in U.S. Customs are making that very hard to do. They're using a 1931 tariff regulation to artificially increase the price you pay for running shoes.

This Depression-era regulation was intended to protect American shoe manufacturers against foreign companies flooding this country with imported canvas sneakers valued at 12￠per pair.

Quite a few things have changed since 1931. Fortunately, running shoes have. Unfortunately, this tariff regulation hasn't. And it's pulling money right out of your pocket.

We suffer, our retailers suffer, and worse yet, you suffer.

Wall Street lawyers and Washington lobbyists working on behalf of Converse and Uniroyal are pushing for these higher tariffs and pushing hard.

It's unfair that political pressure and lobbying can be used to force higher prices for high quality running shoes like NIKE, Tiger and Midas.

And if you don't believe there's pressure being put on Customs, we want you to hear what a Customs import specialist said to our president "If you weren't so - - - - - - - stupid, you'd know that this country is run by pressure groups. I'm under pressure and about to lose my job. Of course, if one side makes no noise and the other is applying all that pressure, we have got to go with the side that makes the noise—otherwise my head will roll'

We don't mind paying fair duties to protect American workers. After all, we are an American company. Our home office is here in Oregon and we have factories in Maine and New Hampshire.

What we do mind are arbitrary price increases that make runners pay more for good shoes.

So we're asking for your help. Write us a letter if you think this tariff regulation should be changed. We'll pass it along to Customs and Congress.

We're still a small outfit And we know a lot more about making good running shoes than we do about political pressure.

So let the Government listen to you. That should be why they are there.

NIKE
8285 SW Nimbus Avenue, Suite 115, Beaverton, Oregon 97005.

Here’s a retro sneaker ad from the 1970s for Kinney’s partnership with the National Basketball Association line of sneakers featuring 4 adidas style stripes.. Kinney’s NBA line of sneakers were known for knocking off bigger brands, like adidas’ SL72 & 76 model runners, and also infamously featured an upside down Nike style swoosh. We posted a pair of those for sale here.

The strangest part about this advertisement is that the Kinney sponsor in this ad appears to be wearing PONY shoes.

Similar to the logo to these PONY shoes….

Ad info is below:

PRESENTING THE WINNING TEAM KINNEY NBA'S!

Pick a winner! Pick a pair of Kinney NBA's! For every sport: running, tennis, baseball, basketball, soccer. And for every member of the family. Kinney NBA's are everything the high-priced athletic shoes are. Without the high price. Kinney NBA's offer full arch support, reinforced stress points, wrap-around heel and toe protection, padded tongue and heel. Join the winning team. Come! Win with us!

Kinney
The Great American Shoe Store®

Kinney NBA 1970s 4 stripe vintage sneakers @ The Deffest