Right now Puma has taken the effort to put some of their weight behind Meek Mill’s upcoming album via a collaboration with Foot Locker. Meek is kind of hot right now since getting out of prison and advocating for prison reform. He settled his beef with Drake and has put on some amazing performances. BUT this is the same Meek Mill that was rocking Nike/Jordan Brand while under contract with Puma. I don’t know about Puma, but the brand was there at the beginning of Hip-Hop and should have someone in place who can remind them that disrespect of that level is tantamount to Spit, tagging over Ramo’s graf in Beat Street.
Insider Ties: Puma net profit up 4% on footwear, time to dump Meek Mill
The article above was written in 2016 and Jay-Z is now the head of Puma Basketball, sort of. Which I think is silly as dude continuously rocks Retro Jordans on tour with wifey, but since Meek’s album is only dropping on Tidal I guess this looks like the type of alliance that on the surface works. In my opinion, it doesn’t. I’ll tell you what I would do though if I was at Puma right now. I’d be on social media searching my ass off for this kid in the video at 1:29 who without being paid, is rocking a Clyde while all of his crew is wearing Jordan retros. That’s my brand ambassador. I would find that kid, talk to him about loyalty, make sure he isn’t a head case who is going to potentially do something that embarrasses the brand, and then he would have Puma Clyde and matching tracksuits as well as every basketball Clyde Disrupt and then I would check and see if this kid could perform with his own loyal to Puma crew. Kid would literally not have to work as long he can dance like this and create these type of videos. When you have a kid who is willing to stand alone with a talented crew of individuals who are all rocking some Jordan retro, that kid is the missing link. I’d take this guy over half of the people you are paying to rock Puma because this one kid, for a fraction of the cost, can organically pull other kids to the brand. Love those willing to love you without being paid to love.
