Final Project Part 4: Nike Mags and Conclusion

Nike Mags are a shoe that are a replica of a shoe worn in the film back to the future. Nike made only 89 pairs of these shoes and had an online lottery to give away all of the pairs. They partnered with the Michael J. Fox Foundation that raises awareness to fight Parkinson’s disease. This relates to the discussion of the aura because if you watch this Facebook video, it shows how valuable these shoes are. The man who won one of the pairs was saying that people were offering him tens of thousands of dollars for the shoes.

            This is important to understand how the aura attaches value to these shoes. Because Nike only made 89 of them, they have a distinct aura and originality to them. Because they are so rare and represent part of an iconic movie, people are willing to spend multiple thousands on the shoes in order to get a pair. I think that this example shows exactly how much value the aura and originality can add to an item. Regular pairs of Nikes that look relatively similar could cost around $200 on average, but they do not have this aura and originality the Nike Mags have. This is definite proof that the aura adds value.

            If you watch until the end of the video, you can see that the man is unsure if he wants to try to sell the shoes for thousands or possibly even keep them. I find this very interesting because when I think about it, they are simply just a pair of shoes that he could making an insane amount of money off of. But they have so much value that he may not even be willing to sell the shoes.

            In conclusion, through the examples of White Collar, Nike, Rip! A Remix Manifesto, and Walter Benjamin’s essay, we can see that the aura and originality definitely affects value of items. We can see, however, that this only applies to certain items and objects. Art specifically is a fantastic example of how the aura can skyrocket the value. On contrast, the value of music is not generally affected by aura and originality. Therefore, situationally, the aura is a powerful force that can cause value to exponentially increase. It has been a subject that has been used multiple times in the Honors 200 class and is something that is very important to think about. The aura is not something that is necessarily easy to see or understand, but it has such a substantial effect. Overall, the aura is an interesting concept that will continually have an effect on value until the end of time.