(1/2) Nike in the Metaverse (pre-RTFKT announcement)
(Note: I wrote this (but didn’t release it) around November 2nd, 2021 . Pre-announcement of Nike acquiring RTFKT studios: )
So now that the world’s biggest companies are starting to seriously look at NFTs, the ignoramuses have been coming out of the woodwork with such incredibly thoughtful gems nailing the implications in every syllable uttered from their thoughtful lips. Hot takes like these ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA are definitely capturing the essence of what’s really going on:
‘how am I going to wear some digital shoes?’
‘I want them on my feet not on my screen’
‘The fuck ima do with a JPEG???’
‘can everyone just live in the real world for once?’
‘imagine buying virtual clothes’
‘this sounds like the worst idea ever’
‘nobody really cares’
SMH. On its surface and without any real information other than a headline, sure, makes sense. But instead of jumping to the first conclusion that not even my 6-year-old might make, maybe folks should try to think about this from the perspective of the biggest and most successful apparel company in the history of the world. Just a thought…it might go a bit deeper than just ‘JPEGs’.
I could sit here all day and pontificate about NFTs and why, to me, it seems absolutely inevitable (and with plenty of reasons for feeling that way), but I’ll let you take a look around and make note that it’s not just Nike that is jumping into the space and if you think it’s on a whim you haven’t been paying attention…Nike has been exploring the benefits of blockchain and the metaverse for a while now…and JPEGs are probably the last thing on their roadmap.
My basis of knowledge of NFTs started roughly 5 years ago, when I interviewed with this startup called ‘Chronicled’ that was trying to make use of their own version of the Blockchain that helped trace the authenticity of certain items through unique, scannable tags attached to the item in question. So, for example, if you had a pair of shoes that you were trying to purchase and needed to know whether or not they were authentic, you’d touch your phone to the tongue tag and the NFC chip embedded inside would tell you whether or not the pair of shoes was, indeed, an authentic Nike product. They embedded these chips on the first few Nike NBA jerseys as a bit of a test run, marketed it as ‘Nike connect’, but it never really took off. I sat with these guys for a few hours and talked about different verification techniques and companies that they were trying to build partnerships with - most notably Mitchell & Ness and StockX - and found the idea to be very persuasive for anti-counterfeiting measures. And now that I think about it - talking with them was the first time I ever made the mental leap into NFTs, although they weren’t called it at the time. Since then, Chronicled has moved into verifying prescriptions on their own blockchain, called ‘MediLedger’.
But…shoes.
If y’all remember, Nike trademarked the name ‘Cryptokicks’ two years ago. I’ve heard various theories from a number of notable people as to what this trademark actually means, and the most interesting (consumer-facing) idea I heard was of a NikeID style of mix and match of different shoe parts (as NFTs) that, once collected together, would build complete shoes, kinda like Tom Sachs Rocket Factory. They called it ‘sneaker breeding’ (LOL). I have no idea if there is any truth to this theory but it’s interesting and sounds like it’d be fun (I’d LOVE to mix and match different Nike shoe parts).
Nike also ran a trial run (alongside Macy’s) with RFID tracking products throughout it’s whole supply chain…they did this with more than half a million items. It sounds like it was successful.
The most intriguing concept, to me, is the idea that they can pretty much kill the whole ‘sneaker authentication’ industry in one fell swoop with the simple addition of their own blockchain tracking their own assets. The perfect application of the blockchain IMO.
Or, maybe they are just doing JPEGs. The cool thing about that is that if it’s not something you’re interested in, you don’t have to give any energy to it. You can just go about your life as is and continue rocking real-world shoes or whatever it is you want to do.
Remember, Nike isn’t stupid. They do what they do to make money. And if they think the metaverse (along with every other Fortune 500 company) is in their best interest to pursue, it’s probably in their best interest to pursue. If you don’t understand what’s going on and are just angry because you don’t understand it - feel free to reach out to me or the countless others who are doing their best to stay on top of it before we’re all left in the dust. This stuff is the future whether you like it or not…