Running enthusiast Joseph William Foster’s idea for spiked racing cleats led him to found the J.W.
The Reebok Pump was going to be so successful that the company might just burst. They’d also manage to get a national television commercial banned, call out Jordan in ads, and wind up in a bitter court fight with colleagues. In less than a year, Litchfield and his co-developers would take that primitive notion and turn the sneaker world upside-down, selling nearly $1 billion worth of product. It was clumsy looking, though, with brass fittings and meant for stationary feet. The only thing Fireman could point to as a reference was an inflatable ski boot made by Ellesse, a sporting goods brand Reebok had recently acquired. How Litchfield and his team arrived at realizing that idea was up to them. Fireman made engineer Paul Litchfield the point man on the project and told him that the company was in need of a customizable sneaker. Nike would go on to take the lead over Reebok the following year. Combined with Jordan’s fame, the push was quickly eating into market share. In the sports apparel world, this was a high-tech development that allowed Nike’s marketing team to fuse science with footwear. It was 1988, and Jordan’s Nike Air sneakers were shipping with a balloon in the heel that was filled with compressed gas to provide additional comfort and support. The way Reebok president Paul Fireman figured it, the company’s biggest problem came down to one thing: Michael Jordan had gas.
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