The History Of Converse

1908 – 1920
Converse began in 1908 as a rubber shoe company specialising in galoshes (rubber based shoes). The
company was called ‘Converse Rubber Shoe Company’, created by Marquis Mills. Soon after, they
adapted and started to use their rubber to make sneakers, which we have all come to know and love.
However, their first colourway was a natural brown Converse high top with a black sole, which today,
wouldn’t be a sell-out at all.

By 1910, Converse was well into daily production, however, it wasn’t until 1915 that the athletic shoes
we’ve come to know and love we’re in production. The sales of the shoes were pretty slow as back then,
trainers were not viewed as leisure wear. The canvas shoe style was picked up by mostly sports players,
and it stuck like this for a while.

In 1920, they renamed their canvas Converse basketball shoes the “All-Star”. The name stuck and was
quickly followed by the endorsement of a basketball player by the name of Charles “Chuck” Taylor. This
turned things around for Converse, taking them to a whole new playing field. Keep reading for a little
more on how the relationship came about.
1920 – 2000
Although the Converse All Star was in production from 1917, they didn’t get their iconic name until 1921.
When basketball player, player for the Akron Firestones, Charles ‘Chuck’ Taylor entered their store
complaining of sore feet, he was offered a job as salesman and ambassador for the brand. As they say, the
rest was history.

It was in 1932 that, as a way of appreciated and recognition of his hard work, they printed Taylor’s name
on the ankle patch of the shoe, creating the Converse logo history. This created the Chuck Taylor shoe that
took over the footwear industry forever. In 1936, the white hightop Chuck Taylor was designed for the
Olympics and the signature red and blue stripes were introduced along the sole. This style was so popular
that they stuck with the design, and never looked back.

Throughout the following years, they picked up copious amounts of sponsorship and licensing deals which
only perpetuated the brands’ popularity with sports stars and the general public alike. By 1957, Converse
held a huge 80% of shares of the whole sneaker industry.

2000 – Present
It wasn’t all so breezy, though. Their sneaker rivals, Nike, were hot on their heels for a long time (pardon
the pun), and after the death of Chuck Taylor in 1968, the company was passed through different
ownership and management. A series of unfortunate events landed Converse in critical times until, in
2001, they filed for bankruptcy. This is where Nike stepped in and bought the brand, picking it up and
helping it recover to where they are today.

When Nike bought Converse, the brand climbed again, however, Converse’s predilection of the basketball
trainer didn’t last. Over time, the brand began to develop multiple occasion footwear which was no longer
exclusively designed to sink jump shots on the court. Eventually they became synonymous with street style
and everyday life across the world. Did you know, a pair of game-worn Michael Jordan Converse were
sold for $190,373 earlier this year? This just goes to show the extent of the growth and popularity of the
shoe.

As long as you don’t have the necessity to be suited and booted, Converse can be worn anywhere, anytime.
They have now transcended beyond sports shoes to the new fashionable footwear in clubs. Converse now
have unlimited potential to go with any and every outfit. If this has made you want a pair, then why not
check out our selection of Converse shoes that we have in store right now?

Converse Collaborations
Because Converse are shoe giants, everybody wants to get a bit of them. Converse has always been open to
brand collaborations which reach out to further customers and gives their loyal fans a chance to get their
hands on limited editions of their classic silhouettes. Notable collaborations include the aforementioned
Michael Jordan x Converse shoes, as well as cross-overs with bigger brands such as Comme Des Garçons.
The Commes des Garcon Converse collaboration produced the black and white high and low top
combinations with the half red heart on the side – a style which many, many fashionistas came on board
with. The J.w Anderson x Converse collaboration is the next big one to go live, with Anderson putting his
own touch on the Chuck Taylor high top silhouette.
 Converse has also played a big part in the music industry. A notable work of Converse in music is The
Ramones Converse shoes where the punk scene adopted the style, further taken on by their masses of fans.
Musicians have also collaborated with the shoe brand to create limited-edition styles, such as the fun and
graphic Gorillaz Converse in 2012.

The History of Converse

 The Converse sneakers history began in 1908 as a rubber shoe company specialising in galoshes.
 In 1920, they renamed their canvas basketball trainers the “All-Star”. This is something which has stuck
with them until the present day.
 When basketball player Charles ‘Chuck’ Taylor entered their store complaining of sore feet, he was
offered a job as salesman and ambassador for the brand. Make the link?
 In 2001, Converse filed for bankruptcy, but Nike bought them and picked the company back up.
 Over time, the brand developed to create multiple occasion footwear which was no longer made
exclusively to sink jump shots on the court.
 They became a lifestyle brand, created for every style, every day. A pair of Converse can be worn with
any outfit, whether smart or casual.

On That Note
It is always interesting to discover the story behind one of your favourite brands – particularly one as
iconic as Converse. Now that you’re all clued up, next time your picking up a pair of Converse (which will
be sooner rather than later, we’d imagine) you will have a little history behind your pair of sneakers.
Wondering how to wear Converse? You can style a pair of Converse with every outfit. They create a wide
selection of styles and colours which means you’ll never tire of outfits to match your Converse with.
Check out our range, including the new in Converse One Star.

THE ATHLETES’ TRUST

How do you consistently earn the trust of world-class athletes through the decades? Produce innovative products that
make them better for once. Adi Dassler’s secret to success had an additional personal ingredient: he met with athletes
(some of them even as visitors in Herzogenaurach), listened carefully to what they said and constantly observed what
can be improved or even invented to support their needs. The best of the best trusted adidas and its founder from the
beginning. And that would not change throughout the decades to come.
 THE ATHLETES' TRUST

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ONE BALL FOR ALL

Footwear for gold medal winners? Check. Apparel for record breakers? Check. Now, how about something to kick
with? Consider it done. In 1970, adidas conquered yet another branch of the sporting goods industry, delivering the
official ball, TELSTAR, for the 1970 FIFA World Cup™. As the name TELSTAR already tells, the ball was designed
to improve visibility on Black and White TV. It was the beginning of a wonderful partnership, with adidas providing
the Official Match Ball to every FIFA World Cup™ that followed.
THE TREFOIL AND THE OLYMPIC IDEA

In 1972, the world turned to Germany when the Olympic Games opened in Munich. Just in time for the event, adidas
presented a new logo that was here to stay: the Trefoil. Then, symbolizing performance. Today, the adidas Originals
collection stands for lifestyle and street. Times may change, but trefoiled quality will always remain

BECOMING A TRUE MULTI-SPORTS SPECIALIST

From Herzogenaurach to the world: the 3-Stripes kept expanding to more and more sports throughout the years. This
is reflected in the broad range of athletes who trust adidas to make them better: besides the usual suspects such as the
world’s best football players, like the Argentinean national team, outdoor icon Reinhold Messner climbed mountains
in adidas shoes and gymnast Nadia Comaneci scored a perfect 10, repeatedly.
BECOMING A MULTI-SPORTS SPECIALIST
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Football has always been at the core of adidas' efforts.

DEATH OF A SHOEMAKER

Adi Dassler died on September 6, shortly before his 78th birthday. The man who almost single-handedly redefined the
sporting goods industry and lifted the benchmark by a mile left behind a flourishing company. The end of one Dassler
era became the start of another: Adi’s son Horst, with support from his mother Käthe, took over and – among many
other things – continued to master his invention, the modern sports marketing.

A BROTHER-TO-BE FINDING ITS WAY – REEBOK ON THE MOVE

30 years after Joe and Jeff Foster renamed their grandfather’s company, Reebok was fit to lead. Literally. Following
the booming fitness trend, women around the world work out in the Reebok Freestyle while fitness professional Gin
Miller became the face of Step Reebok. And that’s not all: THE PUMP innovation hits markets in 1989, making
Reebok a household name in other categories as well.
 REEBOK ADVERTISING

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A COMPUTER FOR YOUR FEET

It sounds quite common today, but back in the ‘80s, a computer did not belong, much less fit, in your shoe. Didn’t
stop adidas from putting it in there. An innovation ahead of its time, the Micropacer featured a system – known today
as miCoach – providing performance statistics to athletes.

THE MERGE OF ARTS AND SPORTS

When US-based hip hop group Run DMC released “my adidas” it was about setting the record straight about hard
working people in troubled neighborhoods and about pure enthusiasm about their sneakers. adidas itself only found
out about this love story when the band held up the 3-Stripes shoes during a concert in front of 40.000 fans – one of
these concertgoers was an adidas employee. The song became a hit and Run DMC and adidas unexpected and unique
partners. This merge of art and sports not only set the everlasting street fashion trend off but also marked the birth of
non-athletic promotions in the sporting goods industry.
 RUN DMC AND ADIDAS

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END OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS

Horst Dassler’s sudden death in 1987, two years after his mother Käthe passed away, meant troubled waters for
adidas. After the Dassler family exited the company, it is changing leadership and questionable strategic decisions that
caused a record loss in 1992 and brought the company near bankruptcy. But who does not love a comeback story?
A SLEEPING GIANT’S NEW MASTER

Robert Louis-Dreyfus. The new CEO made an almost impossible job seem easy. Together with his partner Christian
Tourres, he understood that the almost bankrupt adidas did not need to be reinvented, it simply needed a new
direction. He turned the sleeping giant from a sales- to a marketing-driven company and steered adidas back on the
growth path. In 1995, six years after becoming a corporation, adidas went public and its new marketing slogan could
not sum it up better: “We knew then, we know now”.

INNOVATION NEVER SLEEPS

While the company was still dealing with financial challenges, a new marketing team refocused adidas on what it has
been known for years: making athletes better. Some of the most famous adidas innovations, such as Torsion (1989),
the Equipment concept (1991), the Streetball campaign (1992) and the Predator football boot (1994), were born in this
era.
A NEW TEAM MEMBER – SALOMON JOINED THE GANG

Back on the right track, adidas added a new member to its team. With the acquisition of the Salomon Group and its
brands Salomon, TaylorMade, Mavic and Bonfire, the company changed its name to adidas-Salomon AG.

HOME SWEET HOME

The year the company’s share is admitted to the DAX, comprising Germany’s 30 largest quoted companies, adidas-
Salomon AG committed itself to its roots and moved into new headquarters just outside Herzogenaurach. The “World
of Sports”, a former US military base turned campus, is constantly renewed, extended and modernized over the
following years to house the growing company and its employees.
 WORLD OF SPORTS

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To learn more about the 'World of Sports' visit the 'Herzogenaurach location-site'.

AN INNOVATIVE LEADER

Herbert Hainer became the new CEO of adidas-Salomon AG and, with him, the company’s focus went even more to
innovation. ClimaCool (2002), adizero (2004) and the F50 football boot, launched just in time for the 2006 FIFA
 World Cup™ in Germany, became market hits – as did the new CEO. Herbert Hainer will lead the company from one
record to the next.

NEW CENTURY, NEW DIVISIONS

As the new century started, adidas reinvented the game again. In addition to its sport performance offering, adidas is
the first in the industry to introduce a new lifestyle segment, focusing on sports-inspired streetwear. In the years to
come, new partnerships with Yohji Yamamoto (2002) and Stella McCartney (2004) were born along with exciting
labels such as Y-3 (2003) and Porsche Design Sport (2007).

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 IMPOSSIBLE? JUST A BIG WORD.

In one of its most memorable marketing campaigns, adidas lets its biggest athletes including David Beckham, Haile
Gebrselassie and Muhammad and Laila Ali face their fears, defeats and challenges only to prove that,
indeed, impossible is nothing. The slogan became the synonym for reaching one’s goals.

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING

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SALOMON LEAVES THE TEAM, REEBOK JOINED THE FAMILY

One year after adidas and Salomon go their separate ways, when the latter and its brands (excluding TaylorMade)
were sold to Amer Sports, adidas acquired Reebok, including the brands Rockport and Reebok-CCM Hockey, and
brought together two of the world’s most respected and best-known companies in the sporting goods industry. In June,
the company was re-named adidas AG.

FINDING NEW TEAMMATES

When you are already great, how do you become even better? You keep on training. Or join forces with someone who
complements you and your strengths.

In 2011, adidas acquired the outdoor specialist Five Ten, and TaylorMade first the golf company Ashworth in 2009
and then, three years later, the golf equipment company Adams Golf – making the company even stronger for the road
ahead.
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WHAT BELONGS TOGETHER COMES TOGETHER

From the court to the catwalk and the stadium to the street. The adidas brand offers apparel and footwear for every
sport, every fashion, every style, whether you are an athlete or fashionista. And in 2011, adidas brought together sport,
street and style for the first time in one campaign to tell the world what it means to go all in, heart over head, inclusion
over ego. “all in” (featured by Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Katy Perry and Derrick Rose) lived from the idea that,
no matter your goals or challenges, you have to go all in for the ultimate success.
 ALL IN

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REEBOK FOCUSES ON ITS FITNESS ROOTS

If it is already in your DNA, why reinvent the wheel? After Reebok dominated the fitness and aerobics wave /
movement in the 1980s with groundbreaking products and marketing, the company signed a long-term partnership
with CrossFit, a core strength and conditioning program, in 2011. Two years later, the studio categories Yoga, Dance
and Aerobics followed, and Reebok has been back on track to become the best fitness brand in the world.
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ENDLESS INNOVATION

Running changed forever. Big words. History will tell us if it is true. adidas introduced the Energy Boost running shoe
which featured a completely new cushioning material. Created in cooperation with the German chemical company
BASF, the material combines former contradictory benefits of soft and responsive cushioning for a running
experience unlike any other.
 CREATING THE NEW

In March 2015, the next five-year strategic business plan for the company was presented. 'Creating the New' is the
strategy and attitude that leads adidas into the future. The company is working every day to inspire and enable people
to harness the power of sport in their lives. The strategy translates that competence in sports into streetwear and
fashion because sport is an attitude and a lifestyle. Everything the company does is rooted in sports. As the brown
shoe category was not core to this strategy, 2015 saw the divestiture of the Rockport brand. This allowed the company
to reduce complexity and focus on the adidas and Reebok brands. These brands connect with consumers; therefore,
their success defines the success of the business. With Creating the New, brands are closer to consumers than ever
before. To achieve this, the plan is focused on three strategic choices:

 Speed: Become the first true fast sports company – fast in satisfying consumer needs, fast in internal decision-
making.
 Cities: Six key cities in which to grow share of mind, share of market and share of trend are identified: New York,
Los Angeles, Shanghai, Tokyo, London and Paris.
 Open Source: Be the first sports company that invites athletes, consumers and partners to be part of the brands.
CREATING THE NEW

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LEADER WITH A DIGITAL VISION

After 15 years, Herbert Hainer passed the CEO baton to Kasper Rorsted in October 2016. Transitioning to adidas after
leading the German consumer goods company Henkel for eight years, the Dane was well received among employees,
media and investors alike. As fashion and sportswear industries continued to revolutionize with health and fitness
merging into a lifestyle concept, Rorsted began steering the company to new successes in a digital era, building on the
previously established strategy, ‘Creating The New’.

FOCUS ON KEY COMPETENCIES

With the divestiture of its hockey brand CCM and its golf brands TaylorMade, Adams Golf and Ashworth the
company further contributed to its strategy “Creating the New” and focused on its core competencies in footwear and
apparel and its major brands adidas and Reebok.

Adidas Marketing and Branding Strategies

Despite Nike’s market dominance, Adidas has continued to make its presence
felt as a very strong player in sports shoes and apparel industry. If its
performance during the last few years be kept in mind, the three stripes might be
ready to make a big return. Its Superstar was the top selling shoe of 2016. The
growing popularity of the brand has turned it into investors’ favorite. The reason
cited most often in this regard is the effectiveness and success of its marketing
efforts. Nike poses a tough challenge before Adidas and Under Armour.
However, the German Sports brand (Adidas) still has an impressive presence
and ambitious plans for the future. This is a discussion of its branding efforts and
the marketing strategy which it has renewed to focus its efforts on some key
markets.

Brand that believes in sports

Strategies of adidas
Adidas is a sports brand and by saying a sports brand, it means a brand which
believes in the emotion of sports and the power of sports to change lives. The
mission of Adidas is to be the best sports brand in the world. This mission is
anchored in its core belief that through sports big changes can be brought about.
Sports can make things possible around the world and Adidas’ mission is to help
athletes at all levels make a difference. Its target market is mainly the youth.
However, it connects with every person whose heart is with sports. Several of its
products are popular across all the age groups. In the recent years, it has brought
some major changes to its strategy. Still, everything that it does has the customer
at its core. The brand is trying to create a difference and the new strategic
changes could mean a major step in the direction of developing a financially
successful and sustainable brand.

Product range and pricing strategy

The brand has a comprehensive range of offerings including footwear, apparel,

equipment and services. It caters to everyone interested in sports from
professional athletes and elite teams to common people who love sports. The
focus is on building a strong brand image and becoming the consumer’s favorite
through product and design innovation. The brand uses a high/low pricing
strategy. Lower promotional prices attract customers where they are also offered
the regular higher priced items. However, the intense competition is also a
reason behind adopting this strategy. The advantage is that it enables Adidas to
cater to large segment of customers. Low prices can affect the brand’s image and
give rise to a perception of inferior quality. So, Adidas in general maintains high
prices except for the introductory pricing on new releases.

New three pronged marketing strategy

While Nike’s connection with basketball has been deep, Adidas has focused on
soccer and golf. This has resulted in higher popularity in areas where the
popularity of soccer is high like Europe and South America. However, in
comparison to its competitor Nike, its appeal grew less in areas like North
America where basketball is more popular. To overcome this weakness, Adidas
has embarked on a new three-pronged strategy. This three pronged strategy has
three things as its core focus – speed, cities and open source. Speed is an
important pillar in this strategy where Adidas has decided to be a fast sports
company in the real sense – Fast at dispensing products and faster at decision
making. This will include a reshaping of the entire business model to bring it in a
new avatar before the stakeholders.

To grow its market share faster, Adidas has decided to focus its marketing efforts
on six key cities that include New York, Shanghai, Paris, Tokyo, Los Angeles and
London. The plan also makes sense because a large part of its target market is
found in the metropolitan cities. The third pillar of its strategy focuses on the
involvement of key stakeholders. As a part of its strategy, Adidas will invite more
participation from customers, partners and athletes. However, its results in the
recent years are also a sign that the new strategy has started paying off. Adidas’
deep connection with sports and particularly football is more than evident in its
marketing strategy. However, it has been using sports stars from various fields to
market its products and brands. The central focus of its advertising strategy is the
energy that runs in the veins of every sports lover and athlete. To unleash it, you
need something more than just your physical energy. Adidas helps you outgrow
your limits and overcome your hurdles.

A Brand driven by energy

Its slogans also reflect the same energy. Unleash your creativity, Find Focus,
Claim Freedom, Live without limits; these all are the themes of its promotional
campaigns and slogans meant to energise and motivate athletes and sportsmen.
Most of its ads and promotional campaigns are based on themes of energy,
motion and acceleration. It made an entire series of videos with famous
Argentinan footballer Lionel Messi called Backed by Messi where Messi and
other players shared their experiences. Messi also promotes its Nemeziz 17
boots meant to bring agility and control to the game. The idea is that Nemeziz 17
makes it possible for you to bring agility and master control in the game. In this
way, Adidas promises to infuse energy in the game with its products. However,
its list of ambassadors is not limited to just sports personalities. Selena Gomez
joined the list in 2013 as a global style icon through a partnership with the Adidas
neo label.

Customer connection and social media

To deepen its connection with the customers and other stakeholders, Adidas
remains active through the traditional channels, its own website as well as the
social media. Its social media activity is particularly worth attention. It has
uploaded around a thousand promotional videos on YouTube through its two
channels, Adidas and Adidas football. On Facebook too, Adidas is active through
three accounts two of which Adidas original and Adidas football have more than
20 million followers each. The third account is related to its retail website. On
Twitter too, it has several accounts active including Adidas original, Adidas US
and Adidas football that it uses to stay connected with its fans and followers. The
core focus of all its marketing efforts is to bring energy to sports and help athletes
achieve. However, now that it has revamped its strategy and focused its efforts
on key areas, results have started coming in the form of financial success. While
this could mean increased challenge for both Nike and Under Armour, Adidas still
has a long way to go to achieve its mission.

Sources:

https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/07/19/adidas-details-revolutionary-three-
pillar-strategy-as-it-aims-to-reclaim-lost-ground/
https://blogs.ubc.ca/linhslinda/2014/10/05/target-customers-and-value-
proposition/

http://news.adidas.com/us/Athletes-And-Ambassadors

http://business.financialpost.com/investing/trading-desk/nike-vs-adidas-the-three-
stripes-is-making-gains-on-the-swoosh-but-that-doesnt-tell-the-whole-story

https://www.adidas-group.com/media/filer_public/a3/fb/a3fb7068-c556-4a24-
8eea-cc00951a1061/2016_eng_gb.pdf

The Converse Chuck Taylor All Star is arguably the most popular pair sneakers of all time.

The iconic sneakers have remained essentially unchanged in almost 100 years.

I dropped by Converse’s Facebook Page earlier and had to do a double take in admiration. That playful flash of red! That mysterious giant hand
bolted to the roof of the car! I’m instantly imagining a fun road trip with a bunch of devil-may-care musicians.

Why don’t I have a pair of Converse sneakers, anyway?

Converse gets it.

It takes conviction to clarify what your brand is not.

And real conviction is precious in the marketplace, which is why the picture is so refreshing. You can surely imagine some marketing or PR person
going, “Hey, we’d better not use that line. It’s a little too brusque. It might turn people off. It might be offensive. What if we want to get into shoes
next time? We’d better play safe.”

The only way to truly be “safe” is to avoid doing anything at all. Otherwise, you might as well be bold. Making a bold statement requires guts. It
requires the conviction to say “If somebody doesn’t like us saying ‘shoes are boring’, we don’t want their business.” That’s when you move from a
frame of neediness to a frame of confidence. And people love well-placed confidence. It feels authentic.

Learn more: 30 Tips To Build Your Personal Brand From 37 Experts [Infographic]

“Be bold” doesn’t mean “be stupid”, though.

Making bold statements doesn’t automatically give you adoring fans, as Abercrombie & Fitch found out recently. It’s important that your bold
statement resonates with your audience, and the only way to really do that is to listen to them very carefully.

You’ll have to constantly adjust and calibrate your message to make sure that you stand for something that people believe in. This requires a level of
humility. You can’t take it for granted that you know what your audience wants. You’ll have to keep listening to them.
The difference between knockout brands and wannabes? Guts.

Guts to take action, to put your money where your mouth is. You say you love your audience? Prove it. Prove that delighting your fans and
supporters is worth more to you than your immediate bottom-line. Show it. Don’t be needy.

Converse has several things in common with RedBull, who dropped a guy from the edge of space and gives away drinks to tired or sleepy people for
free.

Both brands have the confidence to spend time and money on things that are cool, but don’t immediately improve their sales. This gives them the
opportunity to hang out with their fans and advocates, and understand what they really want. They’re “learning brands”, with a finger on the pulse of
their audience.

Converse set up a recording studio in Brooklyn, NY where artists can record for free.

Converse doesn’t take a cut of the profits, or own the songs, or ask them to advertise their shoes, nothing.

They do it just for the opportunity to participate in the community that adopted their brand.

Converse’s CMO, Geoff Cottrill, seriously knows his stuff.

Converse CMO Geoff Cottrill.

Image: Allison Cottrill
Mashable’s 2011 interview with Converse’s Chief Marketing Officer Geoff Cottrill is an incredible source of wisdom. Here are some of his best
points:
  “Our philosophy in social media has been to bring our voice to the medium, which includes acting like a good party guest — we bring
something to the table, and we listen more than we talk.”
 “We think that the fans of any brand want to know about product and like offers too, but they also want to have an emotional connection -
– we’re trying to be a good host for that connection.”
 “The bottom line is that in social media you have to “let go.” Forget about the old methods of one-way communication. Social media
isn’t even a two-way conversation –- it’s more complicated than that.”
 “Our job is to keep focused on making great products our consumers want to wear and to be a participant in the discussions going
on in the social media space.”
 “By showing respect and trusting your consumers, I believe your brand benefits via strong advocacy –- having millions of advocates can
be a powerful thing. You just have to let go and trust your consumers.”
 “Converse shoes aren’t about added technology or even about us. They’re about what our customer does in them. It works for other
companies for sure, but that’s not our MO.” – In response to the idea of putting USBs with added-content in shoeboxes
 “But social media has the potential to mature into a powerful hybrid of traditional marketing techniques and community engagement,
especially if that community becomes your brand advocates. Which is why we focus on a couple of core marketing truths via social –- be
relevant, make a connection, be useful, etc.“
 “The key is to know yourself as a brand, be confident in your POV and act that way wherever you are.”
Incidentally, his twitter account description is “I sell sneakers and I do not like Coldplay”.

Coldplay wears shoes.

Shoes are boring.

Images courtesy of Converse, Flickr, Kubrak78