August 10, 2008 11:50 AM
Mannequin 'Melo
For the Olympics, Nike's decided to take everything at their flagship Wangfujing store to a new level of absurdity. They've got ads looping on giant screens around the store, overpriced Team USA and Team China merchandise everywhere and even what appear to be sport kimonos on sale (approximate retail value: $85).
Strangest of all, however, are the mannequins in the store. Nike isn't using your standard faceless mannequin; instead, they've designed the mannequins to look like some of their athletes. When I first tried to snap some photos of these mannequins a few weeks back, a few Nike staff members nearly tackled me. Despite the press credential around my neck, they were convinced that I was taking photos of their merchandise so I could later sell the images to some rogue Chinese merchants, who'd produce knockoffs of the jerseys. This is actually what they told me.
But now, they've placed several of these mannequins outside the store, where you're free to photograph them (and sell the photos to whatever Chinese factory you feel like). So what you're looking at above is a mannequin version of Carmelo Anthony. Sadly, I think it's the worst reproduction of the mannequins on display. The rest of Team USA, along with a few Chinese athletes you might recognize:
Kobe Bryant.
Jason Kidd.
LeBron James.
Chris Paul.
Liu Xiang.
Yi Jianlian.
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