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'Reebok International Limited' is a British producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories and is currently a subsidiary of Adidas AG. The name comes from Afrikaans/Dutch spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle. The company, founded in 1895, was originally called 'Mercury Sports' but was renamed 'Reebok' in 1960. The company's founders, Joe and Jeff Foster, found the name in a dictionary won in a race by Joe Foster as a boy; the dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling.
Reebok is now owned by the German footwear giant Adidas, which completed its acquisition in early 2006.

Contents

Early history

Freestyle and Ex-O-Fit success

The Pump

Human rights and production details

Endorsements

Recent news

Some athletic shoe models

Some Designer Shoe models

Typography

References

External links

Early history

Reebok was founded in 1895, in Bolton, Lancashire, by Joseph William Foster under a company called J.W. Foster and Sons Limited. The family-owned business proudly made the running shoes worn in the 1924 Summer Olympics by the athletes Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell celebrated in the film ''Chariots of Fire''.
In 1958, two of the founder's grandsons Jeffrey and Joseph left the family business and started a rival company that came to be known as Reebok. In 1979, Paul Fireman, a partner in an outdoor sporting goods distributorship, spotted Reebok shoes at the annual sporting goods "super show" in Atlanta, Georgia. He negotiated for the North American distribution license and purchased the rights to sell Reebok footwear. Reebok introduced three running shoes in the United States that year. At $60, they were the most expensive running shoes on the market then. Soon thereafter, Reebok sales exploded when designer Angel Martinez created the Reebok Princess Women's aerobic shoe and the woman's fitness boom took off.

The firm was sold to a group of investors in 1984, led by R. Stephen Rubin of Pentland Industries and Paul Fireman, who established a holding company based in the UK, Limelight Limited, renamed Reebok International Limited after the completion of the sale by Joseph Foster. This company subsequently bought the J.W. Foster limited company from Mr. Foster, to allow it to use the Foster Family history (after 1939). Joe Foster was retained by Rubin and Fireman to expand the companies operations outside the USA, which he did until 1990.

Freestyle and Ex-O-Fit success

Reebok surged in popularity in 1982 after the introduction of the Freestyle athletic shoe, which was specifically designed for women and came out when the aerobics fitness craze started. Not only was the Reebok Freestyle popular as athletic wear, but also on the streets as casual wear because of its comfort and styling. As a result the Reebok Freestyle became an icon of the [1980s fashion scene with hi-top versions (including two velcro straps at the top) and colors including white, black, red, yellow, and blue. Reebok continues to produce the Freestyle to this day as it is popular with cheerleading, aerobic dancing, the gym, and dedicated consumers.
Following the height of the Freestyle success, Reebok also introduced a popular athletic shoe for men, called the Ex-O-Fit. Similar to the Freestyle, it came in low-top and hi-top versions; however, unlike the Freestyle hi-top with two velcro closure straps, the Ex-O-Fit only had one strap. One of the designers of this early footwear was the founder's son, David Foster.

The Pump

In the late-1980s, the company introduced the Reebok Pump line, which used an air bladder, inflated by means of a small pump integrated into the tongue of the shoe, to hold tightly to the wearer's ankle. This allowed for more aggressive maneuvering without injury, but also became a popular fashion element. Around 1993, they introduced an air transfer system which was incorporated into the sole of the trainer.

Human rights and production details

In the past, Reebok had an association with outsourcing through sweatshops, but today it claims it is firmly committed to human rights. In April 2004, Reebok's footwear division became the first company to be accredited by the Fair Labor Association. In 2004, Reebok also became a founding member of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving worker conditions across the apparel industry.
'Supplier information, according to the Reebok website as of May 2007:'
"'Footwear'
Reebok uses footwear factories in 14 countries. Most factories making Reebok footwear are based in Asia—primarily China (accounting for 51% of total footwear production), Indonesia (21%), Vietnam (17%) and Thailand (7%). Production is consolidated, with 88% of Reebok footwear manufactured in 11 factories, employing over 75,000 workers."
'"Apparel'
Reebok has factories in 45 countries. The process of purchasing products from suppliers is organized by region. Most (52%) of Reebok's apparel sold in the US is produced in Asia, with the rest coming from countries in the Caribbean, North America, Africa and the Middle East. Apparel sold in Europe is typically sourced from Asia and Europe. Apparel sold in the Asia Pacific region is typically produced by Asian-based manufacturers."

Endorsements

The company holds exclusive rights to manufacture and market both authentic and replica uniform jerseys and sideline apparel of the teams of the National Football League since 2002, the Canadian Football League since 2004, and is the official shoe supplier to the NFL and Major League Baseball. In addition Reebok acquired official National Hockey League sponsor CCM in 2004, and is now manufacturing ice hockey equipment under the CCM and RBK brands, and has signed popular young stars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin to endorsement deals (Crosby for Rbk, Ovechkin for CCM). Reebok is also endorsed by Allen Iverson, Carolina Kluft, Amelie Mauresmo, Nicole Vaidisova, Ivy and Amir Khan.
It maintains its relationship with its origins in England through a long-term sponsorship deal with Bolton Wanderers, a Premiership football club. When the team moved to a brand new ground in the late-1990s, their new home was named the Reebok Stadium.
In 2005, Reebok also signed an exclusive agreement to design and supply all 8 team home and away strips for the new Australian A-League competition. Although not an expensive deal, this partnership is paying huge dividends for Reebok, due to the growing popularity of football and the league in the area. An estimated 125,000 jerseys have been sold in Australia,a record for a single league's sales in a year for a sports manufacturer. ^[1].
Reebok sponsors four teams in the Australian Football League, those being the Fremantle Football Club, the North Melbourne Football Club, the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Richmond Football Club, the latter two beginning their association from the 2007 season. Reebok has supplied rugby league teams the Melbourne Storm, Manly Sea Eagles and the Gold Coast Titans with club's kits and other merchandise.
In rugby union, Reebok sponsors the Wales national team, the last team to date to win a Grand Slam in the Six Nations Championship, and the Tasman Makos in New Zealand's domestic competition, the Air New Zealand Cup.
On April 12, 2006, then Arsenal (now Barcelona) and France striker Thierry Henry signed a deal to join the "I Am What I Am" campaign on August 1, 2006. Ryan Giggs has also done "I Am What I Am" commercials. Also, on August 1 2006, Andriy Shevchenko started his endorsement deal with the company. ^[2]
The company also holds sponsorships with Chivas de Guadalajara, the second most popular club in Mexican football, and Brazilian clubs Internacional, São Paulo FC and Vasco da Gama.
Several international cricketers, such as Pakistani skipper Shoaib Malik, Pakistani batsman Abdur Razzaq, Indian captain Rahul Dravid, Indian batsmen VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Chris Gayle of the West Indies, endorse Reebok. They are supplied with Reebok cricket shoes, as well as with cricket bats marked with the Reebok brand in the cases of Malik, Dhoni, Laxman, and Gayle. In fact, these bats are not actually made by Reebok.
Rapper Jay-Z became the first non-athlete to get a signature shoe from Reebok. The "S. Carter Collection by Rbk" was launched in November 21, 2003 and the "S. Carter" sneaker became the fastest selling shoe in the company history.^[3] Later Reebok made a deal with rapper 50 Cent to release a line of G-Unit sneakers and artists like Nelly and Miri Ben-Ari have become spokespersons for the company.

Recent news

In August 2005, one of the company's largest rivals, Adidas, announced that it would acquire Reebok for $8 billion. The deal shadowed Nike's purchase of Converse in 2003. The acquisition would increase Adidas' market share in North America and allow it to further compete with the world's biggest maker of sports apparel, Nike. The deal was completed in January 2006.
On March 23, 2006, Reebok recalled 300,000 charm bracelets that contained extremely high levels of lead. The bracelet has a heart pendant at the end that is printed with the name "Reebok." It allegedly caused the lead poisoning death of a 4-year-old child who swallowed it. ^[4]
On April 20, 2006 The Sun Newspaper reported that Reebok had inked F.A. Premier League footballer Thierry Henry of Arsenal. Since then Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has signed up to the 'I am What I am' campaign along with Henry.
In August 2006 Reggie Bush of the New Orleans Saints was fined $10,000 for wearing Adidas shoes during a preseason NFL game versus the Tennessee Titans. The NFL only allows players to wear Under Armour, Nike or Reebok shoes during games. ^[5]
In October 2006 Reebok launches its first blog, I am what I am in Spanish.
In late 2006, a court case began between Liverpool FC, the winners of the 2005 Champions League while wearing in Reebok's kit, and Reebok. Reebok claimed that Liverpool cost them £7M because of a delay in confirming the renewal of the Carlsberg sponsorship deal, which meant a delay in releasing the away shirt for 2005/06 (the last that Reebok would make for them) ^[6]
The kit that was eventually released was very similar to the away kit for 2003/04, and this is more likely the cause of any loss of revenue, as the kit was still released in adequate time for the new season. ^{[7] [8]}Liverpool subsequently switched to adidas for their official kit following adidas' acquisition of Reebok.
In early 2007 the company relocated to its birthplace of Bolton, England after their former headquarters in Massachusetts was sold to a property group. ^[9]
In June 2007, Reebok announced Scarlett Johansson on its array of brand ambassadors. Johansson promotes the Scarlett 'Hearts' Rbk" collection, a 'fashion-forward, athletic-inspired' footwear targeted at the Indian market. ^[10]
In July 2007, Reebok launched its Lifestyle Footwear Collection in association with Daddy Yankee's new album for those who love to fuse music with fashion. ^[11]

Some athletic shoe models

★ Classic

★ Ex-O-Fit

★ Freestyle

★ The Pump

★ Reebok DMX

★ DGK (skateboarding)

Some Designer Shoe models

★ Fish Fry by Manish Arora (designer)

Typography

The typeface usually used for Reebok's logo is called Motter Tektura. It was also the corporate font of Apple Computer, Inc. in the 1980s.

References

1. Reebok signs a deal with A-League
2. Announcement of Shevchenko signs a deal with Rbk
3. S.Carter the fastest selling Reebok shoe
4. Recall of bracelets
5. Bush hit with unspecified fine for Adidas cleats
6. Reebok's delay in releasing away shirt
7. Liverpool 2003/4 Away jersey
8. Liverpool 2005/6 Away Jersey
9. Reebok sells its former headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts
10. Scarlett Johansson is the New Face of Reebok
11. Reebok Launches its Lifestyle Footwear Collection

External links

★ Official website

★ Business practices website, supplier details