The Reebok Pump was a line of athletic shoes that was extremely popular. It was the first shoe to have a 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."

History

The original Reebok Pump was released in 1989, as a basketball high-top shoe. The shoe featured a prominent tongue with a round orange bulb that controlled the inflation mechanism. At about $175 US a pair, they were extremely expensive compared to other retail athletic shoes at the time; and became somewhat 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.

The patent for the pump mechanism is USPTO #5113599.

Version 2.0

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.

In addition, Reebok announced that they would also re-release the classic Pumps as a limited edition "Reebok Classic Pump Bringback".

Competitors

Athletic shoe giant Nike instantly answered with their slightly more affordable Air Pressure, but the model never gained the popular appeal or success of the Pump. Later on, Nike would use a similar inflation mechanism in one of their "Shox " models.

External links

• Reebok Pumps it Up a Notch from ESPN (November 12, 2004)