Shoe or Accessory?

Think about the way in which you pick your outfits. What are you doing that day? What is your goal? What is the weather?

Going to the gym is not the most fabulous part of your day. It wouldn't make sense to pre plan your workout outfit, or apply makeup, and especially do your hair. This would be the logical way to think about this scenario. In fact, it even seems silly that a price on a pair of Nike shoes would even cost more than $100. Would it be silly if those $100 are spent on a product that is proven to enhance your running ability? This is a theory that I have been pondering on each day I train for the Chicago Marathon. The price we put on style is just as apparent in workout apparel. We purchase what makes us good even at our worst. Dripping sweat and panting like a dog is not pretty but hey, my outfit is great! More importantly, I have really cool looking shoes. 

What do you even know about those shoes? Besides the appearance? Probably nothing. 

As I train for the marathon I have to be careful in my training techniques. Most importantly, my foot wear. Would it make most sense for me to choice the shoe that has my favorite color and a design elements that turn a simple gym shoe into a fashion statement? No. For a lot of other people that is their first instinct. Lets take a look at the two images below. Now lets say you are a women and I asked you "which shoe did your eye go to first" you will probably admit the Nike.

Why though? Why was that our first instinct... lets be honest the Asics are incredibly boring. Now, lets switch you are a man and the color of the Nike's have switched from orange to blue. Before typing... I thought of course the guy is going to pick the boring one. But actually, as I put my thoughts in order I would say that a male might still find the Nike's more appealing. We love trendy! The Nike's are in fact, trendy!

What else is trendy?

Nike's website...

What isn't trendy?

Asics....

But what if i told you that the Asics are lightweight, provide more support, have been seen to provide longer comfort than Nike, and last longer. It may or may not change your mind BUT it may have told your brain to stop and think about your decision a big longer. Maybe all we need in this world is to THINK A LITTLE BIT LONGER. We make decisions on such an impulse. Advertising and social media has developed our sense of urge to pick an item based off of image, not reliability. Once you put yourself in an activity or a scenario when you are forced to choose reliability you realize how little we know about certain products. It is amazing that our sense of seeing is such an incredible impact on the way we live.

Something that caught my eye even further was the website differences for both brands. The Nike website is designed with impeccable artistic elements. The color scheme is eye catching and the way they use visual effects with slide show images and pictures makes the consumer want to purchase right away. Nike makes their consumers excited to shop.

The Asics website was much more simple. The colors were prominently white and blue. Key words like "light weight" "amazing support" and "natural" were used to express that the shoe was made to help you succeed in your run.

Unfortunately society will continue to be persuaded by flashy images. In the end, we will continue to judge a book by its cover.