Under Armour is having an identity crisis. Can someone please translate?

About the same, but then again I've been at the same university for 10+ years.

 

Ha! It didn't, but the Adidas team did make sure to tell the story of the company's name, which is not an acronym, but a shortening of founder Adolf Dassler's name (his nickname was Adi, thus the pronunciation became Adi-Das).

His brother Rudolph formed Puma because they hated each other and were extremely competitive. Also, I'm not sure if it's first time a shoe company tried to get an athlete to wear their shoes, but Adidas got Jesse Owens to wear their shoes during the Berlin games and it helped put the company on the map.

 

Should have built a monorail.

 

Worked for Ogdenville and North Haverbrook!

 

All these stories I'm reading about UnderArmour don't even dabble in what the brand has become out here in the rural midwest. Wearing UA out here is code for being rural, probably a hunter, likely a gun owner and likely conservative. I never felt like wearing Nike or adidas or Reebok gear ever identified you culturally as much as UA does, at least here in the hinterlands. It's more like what Russell Athletics has in its Mossy Oak brand than what Nike or adidas does. That has to be a concern for an athleisure company as far as perception of the brand.

I'm sure this is a minor, minor part of their struggles, but that has to come into consideration when you failed to make a dent in the market with NBA fans who drive that shoe culture.

I have a solid black rainproof winter coat from UA, seemingly one of the few tasteful products the brand produces, and it's fantastic. But I'd worry if I were them being identified the way they are when I'm trying to sell to teenagers.

 

UA did work really hard to get into the hunting niche. But then faced a big backlash when it withdrew sponsorship from a "personality" who used a spear to kill a bear. While it was a legal hunt, when the company dropped her a lot of hardcore Ted Nugent types struck back.

 

Nike is having a rough go of it as well. I imagine these days are choppy waters for brands that depend on cross-cultural acceptance particularly among male consumers.

 

I want those shoes right now. They are sweet.

 

I worshiped Under Armour socks for years, then got a six pack that left fuzz all over my feet, even after repeated washings. No more Under Armour socks for me. Funny thing, I had the same problem with some Russell Athletic ones. Immediately threw them in the trash.

 

I've never found better than Thorlo socks. Expensive, but worth it. Their athletic socks might have three or four different types of thread, weave, and elastic... like thick and cushy under your foot, thick and durable at the heel, thinner and more elastic in a band wrapping round the mid-foot across the top of the instep and under the arch. Really well made and comfortable.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...ocks&sprefix=thorlo,aps,174&crid=UUUXDNO4W4TE