words & images // Zack Schlemmer
Last Wednesday we brought you a special Nike Air Max ad insert from 1991, and this week we're back with a similar Reebok insert from the same period. As we see here with this Reebok advertisement, Nike wasn't the only shoe company that could afford to put a fancy 8 page layout into magazines. In this awesome piece we get looks at a few early 90's Reebok classics like the original Pump and Reverse Jam basketball shoes, as well as some obscure Reeboks of sneaker past. My personal favorite of the forgotten is the Everton TR soccer shoe. That is a hot shoe!
In addition to some forgotten Reebok models, there are also some forgotten Reebok technologies witihin this ad. Most of us are familiar with The Pump system and Hexalite cushioning, but who remembers the Energy Return System or Energaire? The Energy Return System, or ERS, was used from roughly 1987 to 1991 and was basically a cushioning system that used hollow tubes within the midsole of the shoe to absorb and then spring back the impact . The Energaire system, very similar to the DMX technology Reebok would later use, was a chain of air bladders in the outsole that would channel air from the heel to the forefoot (or vice versa) to help propel you forward and provide cushioning.
I'm sure a lot of us would love to see retro releases of some of the shoes held within this ad. Have a favorite model on these pages? See a shoe you've never seen before? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and let's hope somebody from Reebok is out there reading.
