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Imagine my surprise when I logged into Facebook the other day and saw a promoted ad for special edition Star Wars Sperrys. I’m far from being a Sperry connoisseur, but a loafer and boat shoe company targeted at dads, yuppies, and fraternity and sorority-types doesn’t seem like the kind of brand that caters to themed, patched shoes. It doesn’t seem to fit—it’s a shoe for the casual professional, not a skater shoe.
I grew up on Star Wars as a kid. I had the boxed VHS set, I had the toys, I even had a toy lightsaber or two with which I would hit my brother mercilessly. I loved that stuff. Star Wars redefined the great American movie series even after we thought “The Godfather” was as good as it could get. Even now, I saw “Rogue One” in theaters twice and was extremely disappointed with JJ Abrams basically re-writing “A New Hope” and killing off Han Solo in “The Force Awakens.” So this is how the Star Wars franchise dies—with thunderous applause.
However, as much as I love Star Wars, I’m not the Comic Con, Star Wars t-shirt kind of guy. I don’t have a problem with the branding and merchandising, but you have to be hardcore to even consider wearing any heavily Star Wars-branded apparel. Even then, the target audience for this sort of branded apparel isn’t going to drop Sperry bucks on a branded shoe. A C-3PO and R2-D2 design on a $75 pair of shoes? Those aren’t the droids I’m looking for.
I could totally see this kind of Empire-Rebellion branding on a skater shoe like Vans or even on a special edition sneaker by Nike. They’re not necessarily expensive, premium brands and they’re prone to this kind of special edition-type promotion. This stuff is especially branded towards kids and teenagers anyways, with your occasional adult who wants to rock Star Wars paraphernalia. That’s not what I think of when I think of Sperry.
Sperry is the premium $100+ leather loafer, $80+ canvas sneaker shoe company. I don’t see many people willing to drop that on a branded canvas shoe, and I certainly am not going to. That is some overpriced brand loyalty right there. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
Now, I’m not trashing Sperry. My last three pairs of loafers were Sperry. They’re well made and very comfortable. However, I just don’t see the appeal of Sperry Star Wars shoes, even if I wanted to deck out myself in Star Wars gear for the next movie’s premier. They’re too pricey and obnoxious, and if I’m being honest here also a little childish. I’ll stick to my loafers and go to the Star Wars t-shirt rack if I really want to advertise what a nerd I truly am..
Image via betto rodrigues / Shutterstock.com
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@5OClockShadow_
Completely agree episode 7 was trash and Rouge One was fantastic.
I liked episode 7, but I get the hate. It was a reboot and really nothing more, I hope the other two episodes develop the story more but I don’t think they will.
Kylo Ren is just too big of a bitch. It’s shameful.
Like you should be talking.
It doesn’t help that they jumped the shark by having him remove his helmet already.
I think a lot of people liked Episode VII because it didn’t suck compared to the majority of Episodes I-III. But it was an obvious rehashing of Episode IV, and wasn’t as good as everyone made it out to be.
Personally, I liked the film despite it being A New Hope 2.0. I thought the acting was good, I like the new characters, and they set up a lot of storylines that I’m looking forward to seeing in Episodes VIII and IX.
Anakin. Why don’t you have another freak out after you tell us about how you feel about sand.
You realize you’re talking about the same fan base that spends thousands of dollars on collectible toys, lunch boxes, and other memorabilia right? A hundred dollar shoe is nothing to them. They won’t buy it to wear, just add to their growing collection.
Nerd alert!!!
Rogue One was awful. Last 20 minutes were good. But that’s a lot of boring ass movie to get through for 20 minutes.
Going to get some hate, and it might have been awesome when it came out, but Star Wars is terrible. There is little to no character arc other than quick and unrealistic adjustments, it’s way too simple good vs. evil when the background should (and easily could) be much more complicated, and the “evil” is unrelatable to the degree that there’s absolutely no emotional confliction for the viewer – bad guys don’t wear masks in real life.
Except for Rogue One. Rogue One was fantastic.