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Very interesting new study: Selling the sole: media, mysticism, and the marketing of barefoot-inspired athletic footwear
Haman et al, Sport in Society: Cultures, Commerce, Media, Politics, Article in Press
"The marketing of minimalist footwear has been successful not necessarily because of any novel rhetorical packaging or celebrity promotions, but because it annexed the subculture's original principles that trace back to its pioneer barefoot runners of the 1990s, whose vision books like Born to Run popularized. What remained was a commodity that could harness the growing interest and transform the movement into corporate revenue. Hence, the birth of the ‘minimalist’ shoe."