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7 fun details that you might miss in the trailer for 'Air,' the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon movie about Nike signing Michael Jordan

Feb 18, 2023, 20:03 IST
Business Insider
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, with Damon in character as Sonny Vaccaro, on the set of "Air."Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
  • Amazon will release a movie based on how Nike signed Michael Jordan on April 5.
  • The movie's trailer released Thursday.
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Filmmakers call them "Easter eggs." They're the sort of cinematic details that easily get missed.

It looks like the upcoming movie about Nike's effort to sign Michael Jordan will have a lot of them, which isn't surprising given the company has one of the richest, zaniest corporate histories in America.

A roughly two-minute trailer for the movie, which recounts a contested part of Nike's history, released Thursday.

Judging by the lively music and raucous dialogue, the movie, set in 1984, seems primed to capture some of the early character of a company that the Oregon Journal described in 1979 as "half Saturday Night Live and half Executive Suite."

The movie stars Ben Affleck as Nike cofounder Phil Knight and Matt Damon as Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro.

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The trailer playfully nods at Nike history in several scenes. Here are a few details you might miss.

1. Phil Knight drives a car with a 'NIKEMN' license plate

The trailer shows a fast-moving purple Porsche pulling into a parking lot, presumably Nike's headquarters. It has a NIKEMN license plate. Presumably cofounder Phil Knight's character is driving the car.

Knight once drove a black Acura NSX with NIKEMN plates, according to "Just Do It," a 1995 book by Donald Katz.

Katz noted Knight previously owned a Porsche before he "racked it up." He also noted Knight didn't collect cars, but he owned a Lamborghini Diablo and Ferrari Testarossa.

And like the movie seemingly portrays, he drove fast.

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"I get sleepy going slow. Fast is safer for me," Knight told Katz. "I've collected eighty-five speeding tickets over years of staying wide-awake at the wheel."

2. 'Maybe it'll grow on us'

In his 2016 memoir, Knight recounts the moment in 1971 when he settled on the name "Nike." Knight originally preferred Dimension Six.

"Maybe it'll grow on us," Knight recounted saying.

In the trailer, Knight's character, played by Ben Affleck, responds to hearing the "Air Jordan" name for Michael Jordan's line of footwear and apparel.

"I don't know," Knight's character says. "Maybe it'll grow on me."

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3. Is that a Bonsai tree in Phil Knight's office?

The trailer for "Air" includes several scenes in Knight's office. They're stuffed with details that point to Nike's history and culture, including Asian art and what looks like a Bonsai tree, both of which nod towards Knight's and Nike's business relationships and appreciation for Japan and its culture.

(Knight started the company that later became Nike as an importer of Japanese running shoes.)

His office also is a fun choice for the big screen because in later years it was mostly off-limits.

"During Knight's years at Nike's helm, hardly anyone on campus - not even his most senior lieutenants – ever actually set sneakered foot inside his office," the Oregonian wrote, in 2007.

4. Knight's office is filled with books

In the trailer, there are numerous books on the shelves in Knight's office. Knight is an avid reader.

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By 2007 he even had a personal library behind his office, according to a New York Times story that year.

"To enter, one had to remove one's shoes and bow: the ceilings were low, the space intimate, the degree of reverence demanded for these volumes on Asian history, art and poetry greater than any the self-effacing Mr. Knight, who is no longer chief executive, demanded for himself," the Times reported.

5. Phil Knight's 'rumpled' clothes

In three scenes in the trailer, Knight's character wears a wrinkled suit with the necktie pulled loose. Those close to Knight have joked over the years about how he wears a suit.

"(Phil) can put on the finest new suit, but in 10 minutes it looks all rumpled," Knight's wife, Penny, said, in a 1993 Vanity Fair story.

In "Just do it," Katz described Knight wearing a "a wrinkled green business suit - the wrinkles having become something of a trademark over time."

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6. Nike's headquarters in 1984 looked a lot different than it does today

By 1984, Nike had graduated from its first office next to Portland's now-closed Pink Bucket Tavern to a 46,000-square-foot-office in Beaverton.

Employees handled the moving chores themselves, fueled by 50 pizzas and two kegs of beer, according to a 1979 story in the Oregon Journal. The offices were more insurance company than sports mecca.

Nike didn't move to the sprawling campus it now calls home until 1990.

A vintage Nike sneaker with a "waffle sole." The original waffle iron, largely destroyed, was recovered in 2010.Ted Shaffrey/AP

7. What's up with the waffle iron behind Phil Knight's desk?

Most know the story of Bill Bowerman's wife's waffle iron. Knight recounted the story in a 1978 interview with the Oregon Journal.

"It's literally true that he was at breakfast and his wife was making waffles when he realized she was making the sole pattern he was looking for. He had a garage full of raw rubber, got some and put it on his wife's waffle iron," Knight said.

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The resulting product - the Nike "waffle sole" - was a smash hit.

There's a scene in Knight's office in the "Air" trailer where a waffle iron is prominently displayed behind his desk. It's unclear if it's a symbol or meant to be Bowerman's famed waffle iron.

But the actual waffle iron was likely sitting in a landfill in 1984. It was found in a trash pit on Bowerman's property in 2010, according to the Oregonian.

It's since been displayed on Nike's campus.




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