On November 1984, the Moscow forensics team had collected a series of three footprints belonging to three suspects responsible for a murder at the back of a shopping mall lot. The team effortlessly established the three brands of footwear. The age of the shoes were accurately distinguished by the crispness of the footprint. Suspect number two was a wearer of Nike Airforces. Officers concluded that they must have been fresh out the box as the lines of the impression appeared to be sharp and crisp, something that gets blurred within a week of wear. It measured 8 inches making it a size 14. This would narrow down their search, as that’s an uncommonly purchased size.
Chief of Police, Mrs. Sidorov’s, first instinct was the check the mall’s security cameras, however, the tapes merely revealed three blobs draped in ghost-like sheets from head to toe on a fuzzy white blizzard night. Instinct number two was to check all stores in the mall that sold Nike shoes. “We assumed they must live nearby or be frequent visitors to be in such a spot where the altercation happened.” Stated Mrs. Sidorov, live on BBC.
Low and behold the one and only sale on a size 14 Nike Airforce pair within the month was made at the Nike store. The potential suspect, Bill Ivanov — who turned out to be the confirmed suspect — had purchased two identical pairs during a store-wide BOGO sale. Foolishly, he registered his nickname, phone, and email to receive a further 10% off that day.
“Is this sale still running?” Asked Mrs. Sidorov. “I got four little sons and they’re driving me crazy about Nike AirForces.”
The Phantom Ad always has a way of doing it. The trailing dog effect happens when dopaminergic neurons are stimulated by the act of encoding information. This leads to associating a product with feeling good about the self, and in effect desiring the product as a trophy. Effective or aggressive? Sensory synaesthesia works that bad.
