Goooood morning, family! Welcome back to the Kicks You Wear on this glorious Monday morning. I hope you’re well.
Had a fantastic birthday weekend. Went to a Motown music show, ate some good food with good friends. It was dope. Thanks for all the well wishes last week. Love y’all.
Alright, let’s jump in.
It’s scary hours for the botters
Folks, we may finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Online shopping for sneakers might get a bit easier sooner rather than later.
What’s happening: The United States House of Representatives just introduced a new bill that would clamp down on bot use for consumer good.
House Rep Paul Tonko (D-NY) introudeced a bill alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer and Senators Ben Ray Luján and Richard Blumenthal called the “Stopping Grinch Bots Act.”
How it works:
In a nutshell, the bill prohibits people from using programs to bypass security systems on e-commerce platforms — ya know, botting.
It also prohibits folks from using bots and then taking the goods purchased to the secondary market for resale at a marked-up rate.
Tonko said the bill sets out to curb the sort of “market manipulation” you see every day on items like sneakers and PlayStations.
This is an objectively good thing for many consumers out there who are shopping manual. For botters, it’s bad news, obviously.
The bill is said to work similarly to the BOTS act of 2016 that prohibits folks from botting and scalping ticket sales. And if it is anything like the BOTS Act, the penalties will be no joke.
In January, the FTC clamped down on companies that were found to be botting to the tune of millions of dollars.
Hold on, though. While there are a ton of folks out there excited about this, you still might want to pump the breaks.
Y’all know how the legislative process works. It’s long. Slow. A whole grind. This bill was only just introduced. It still needs to be passed by both the House and the Senate before it gets signed into law.
There’s no guarantee that it’ll make it through that process. The BOTS act of 2016 worked out, but the Grinch Bots act was broached before and couldn’t get enough votes to make it out of the House. There’s a chance that happens here, too.
Still, this is good. It’s a good thing that this bill exists and it’s a good thing that this is something legislators know their constituents care about.
We’ll see how this moves forward. In the meantime, Lil Johnnie and them better keep rocking with that PS4.
Shaq x Nike was a thing???
Folks have always been curious about the relationship between Shaquille O’Neal and Nike — mostly because of the Shaq brand shoes.
For those of you who don’t know, Shaq has his own brand of very affordable sneakers. You can find them in Walmart mostly.
The thing about many of them, though, is that they look like different Jordan models.
That’s always been weird. And it’s always led to people questioning why Nike and Jordan Brand haven’t come down on the Shaq brand because of it.
Well, Shaq gave us an answer. Sort of. Apparently, the Shaq brand was “owned” by Nike at one point, he said on Sneaker Shopping. Nike decided “they didn’t pay it any attention” and sold it back to Shaq.
I’m skeptical of this. Here’s why:
Shaq’s brand is wildly successful because of how affordable it’s always been. He reportedly sold more than 120 million pairs of kid’s shoes back in 2016.
Nike having a venture like this in the palm of its hands and then breaking off of it just doesn’t really make a ton of sense.
Shaq has also never mentioned this before. He’s even talked openly about sabotaging his relationship with Nike when they tried to land him over Reebok back in the 90’s. It sure has seemed like he’s had nothing to do with the Swoosh — until now, anyway.
Let me be clear: I’m not saying Shaq is incorrect or lying. I don’t know his business, obviously. But what I am saying is that this sounds like a huge L for Nike if it actually happened. And we all know Nike ain’t in the business of that.
It can happen, though. Just ask Steph Curry.
Don’t panic on the A Ma Maniere AJ1
Lots of people were able to cop the A Ma Maniere Air Jordan 1’s on the store’s original release date for the shoe.
Problem is lots of people’s kicks haven’t actually shipped yet.
Quick Twitter search shows you just how many people haven’t received notifications just yet.
And this happened after an initial wave of shipments from the brand a few days after the release, which has led to a bit of panic for everyone.
But you shouldn’t fret. I mean, after all. You knew this was going to happen at some point, right?
The supply chain is in absolute shambles right now. I mean, we’re running out of chicken tenders. And y’all thought getting kicks was going to be easy?
Just be patient. There’s a delay, sure. But a delay isn’t cancellation. There was plenty of stock to go around on these and lots of W’s are still going out to people from various retailers as well. Your time will come.
Plus, if it doesn’t, you’ll be alright. You’ve probably got more than enough to wear already, anyway.
Y’all have GOT to see my birthday gift
The Kicks You Wear Logo looks absolutely incredible as a neon sign. I did not know I needed to have this until I received it.
Wow, this is sharp.
Best. Fiancé. Ever. Shoutout to Jasmine, man. What a gift. I need to get this up ASAP. Will send pics once I do.
What’s droppin, bruh?
Luis De Guzman x New Balance 574 — Wednesday, December 8]
Ivy Park x Adidas Ultra Boost — Friday, December 10
Yeezy 700v3 “Copper Fade” — Saturday, December 11
Air Jordan 11 “Cool Grey” — Saturday, December 11
Yeezy Foam Runner MXT “Moon Grey” — Saturday, December 11
Thank y’all so much for rocking with me. I appreciate you! Y’all are the absolute best, man.
We’ll chat again on Wednesday. Until then, fam. Peace. Love. Be easy, be safe, be kind. And we out.
-Sykes