History of the Reebok Pump
By chief | November 26, 2006
The Reebok Pump is a line of athletic shoes that was extremely popular. It was the first shoe to have an internal inflation mechanism that regulated the pressure in the air cushion. The advertising campaign for the original shoes 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. This shoe is currently used by WWE superstar John Cena.
The original Reebok Pump 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.
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 and 8K inline model which used The Pump as a customizable heel-fit mechanism.
The patent for the pump mechanism is USPTO #5113599.
Topics: Reebok, Sports Apparel, Sports, General |
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November 26th, 2006 at 1:02 am
[…] On November 12, 2004, Reebok announced that it was re-launching the popular Pump line. The new Pump line has no laces and is not manually inflated. It is triggered and automatically regulated by weight placed on the ball of the foot. The new line features the classic basketball shoes, as well as a line of running shoes and cross-trainers. […]