"You look like a mess, Zachary." Sweaty and confused from running around the park for rugby practice, I ask my teammate for elaboration. He points to what I'm wearing, saying that all my brands are mixed up. I investigate my outfit and see that I'm wearing Nike cleats, Vans sock, and Adidas shorts. "Thats bad luck," my mate continues on. Refuting his argument, I ask him why is it that I finished before him in our run. "You'll see..." His diss on my heterogeneous mixture of sports apparel ends good-humoredly.
While our discussion was generally for kicks and giggles, it was interesting to understand my teammate's thinking upon brands. He found it unseemly that someone would mix different clothing brands, even bringing about negative superstition in the act. Supposedly, I must bear all Nike clothes to harness all the "Just do it" mentality, and interrupting that flow with Adidas shorts is just plain silly. No, I believe that his thinking is silly. All the brands I was wearing are sports purveyors, all whom have a motivational quote that convinces me that their product makes you better at sports, specifically Nike and Adidas.
I think we can blame marketing's role in this cult-like mentality with brands. Above are ads by Adidas and Nike; both are very similar. They both feature a famous soccer player, all decked out in uniform clothing by the brand, with a statement that is supposed distinguish them from the rest. Adidas states, "All in or nothing." From that, I might consider that I need to wear all Adidas, like that famous guy, to can "have it all." On the other (very similar) hand, Nike beholds Neymar, all in Nike clothing, and with unrealistic qualities and "Explosive speed." This might make me think that Nike is what I need to buy since it gives you great qualities, like Neymar. Both have very similar messages that are generally undistinguished.
The question is, can I wear both Nike and Adidas and still have those athletic abilities that they promise me? Realistically, yes. While one brand of cleat may be better than the other, one doesn't need to go all out in uniform attire of one brand to be great. But brands make it seem the other way around, that I need to buy all Nike, through having athletes wear their products in all aspects.
So was my teammate wrong for saying that I will be doomed by mixing brands? His disposition is simply culture, as established by advertisements like the ones above. While not necessarily true, it seems like it. Much power with those persuaders.
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