Reebok

The Reebok Pump is a line of athletic shoes that was extremely popular in the early 1990s. It was the first shoe to have an internal inflation mechanism that regulated a unique fitting cushion in the upper. more...

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The original advertising campaign used the tag line "Pump Up, Air Out" which, in addition to describing the mechanism's operation, was a not-so-subtle jab at competitor Nike and its "Air" cushioning system.

History

The original Reebok Pump was made as a collaboration between Reebok and industrial design firm Design Continuum. It was released in 1989, as a basketball high-top shoe. The shoe was extremely expensive compared to other retail athletic shoes at the time. It became something of a status symbol on urban basketball courts and eventually in suburban high schools.

After the success of the basketball shoe, Reebok designed pump shoes for football, tennis, and track. Some models used a standard CO₂ cylinder instead of the pump for weight considerations.

Dee Brown won the 1991 all star weekend dunk competition while wearing a pair of pumps.

CCM briefly offered a hockey skate with The Pump in it circa 1995, however it was derided for its poor durability. The Pump did not make a return to hockey until 2006, when Reebok (now the owner of CCM) brought out the 9K, 7K and 5K ice, goalie, and 8K inline model which used The Pump as a customizable heel-fit mechanism

World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler John Cena wore Reebok Pumps as part of his old-school, hip hop gimmick. He would often stop to "pump up" when he was gaining momentum towards the end of matches.

Rawlings offered a Pump-equipped baseball glove.

The patent for the pump mechanism is USPTO #5113599.

Competitors

There were two competitors for the Reebok Pumps. One was the LA Gear Regulators and the Nike Air Pressure. Neither models ever gained the popular appeal or success of the Pump. Later on, Nike would use a similar inflation mechanism in their "Shox" models available as basketball or cross-training sneakers.

Current implementations

Pump technology is making a small comeback. For instance, DC Shoe Company introduced a series of snowboarding boots with Pump-style liners. 2006 / 2007 models include the Judge, Graphix and Ghost boots.

Criticism

The one criticism about these shoes is that they could be blamed partially for the spike in basketball shoe prices due to the fact the Pumps were the first American basketball shoes to cost over $100+ (they were $180 when they hit the stores). Since then, shoes like the Nike Air Jordans have been known to be over $100 among others.

Read more at Wikipedia.org