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Hey, remember Marty McFly’s shoes from Back to the Future 2?
My first reaction upon seeing this at age twelve was, of course, I’ve gotta have those. But the future promised in Future seemed ever so far away, and I soon forgot my brief-but-hot-burning podiatiric passion. But not everyone did. Now that it’s 2007, and 2015 — the year in which BTTF2 is set — is just around the corner, the drumbeat of demand is beginning to grow.
Witness McFly 2015, whose mission statement claims that they are “a grassroots movement to get Nike to make available to consumers the futuristic-looking sneakers seen in the 1989 movie Back to the Future Part 2.”
Not only is this the awesomest thing I’ve ever heard, it also seems like the kind of thing that, should it catch on, just might work! Sure, they look really dorky and retro, but there’s got to be at least a few demographics out there who would spring for a pair of auto-lacing McFlys. To wit:
1) Me and people like me
2) People who ride Segways
3) Too-cool-for-school retro rockers like The Darkness and VHS vs. BETA
4) People who have through extraordinary circumstances somehow missed the interceding years and their attendant fashion trends, like
a) Jamie Kennedy in Kickin’ it Old Skool
b) Encino Man
c) Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
So, who wants a pair?
Comments (14)
Comment
definitely already on the mailing list.
…back to the future is probably one of the greatest movies EVER.
posted by kay on 9-11-2007 at 7:52 am
If they lace themselves, that’s worth the money. Now if they can invent those hologram thingies….
posted by Marika on 9-11-2007 at 8:00 am
I want them even if they don’t lace themselves!
posted by Tru on 9-11-2007 at 8:35 am
Michael Surtees, proprietor of DesignNotes, has been exchanging emails with the people behind the McFly project. They sent him copies of the patent applications filed by Nike in 1992.
This needs to happen.
http://designnotes.info/index.php?s=McFLY&sbutt=Go
posted by Jason on 9-11-2007 at 8:37 am
I have been told many times I am stuck in the 80’s, but yeah, I signed up to get a pair. :-D
posted by Scott on 9-11-2007 at 11:56 am
Can you imagine if those malfunctioned? There’d be a whole contingent of people going around with severed feet…
posted by Elsa on 9-11-2007 at 1:52 pm
I’ll bet my Adidas this is viral advertising. Nike probably has them manufactured and ready to ship.
posted by bob on 9-11-2007 at 2:28 pm
I don’t ever want to give up my Dork Hat, so I am on board with this idea 150%!!
posted by Rachel on 9-11-2007 at 6:12 pm
Heck yes I want a pair! But you’d think if we’d get those we’d have other futuristic Sneakers…But I bet anything these would be the best-selling futuristic sneakers out there in 2015!
posted by Alex on 9-12-2007 at 1:01 am
Bob, it’s sad, but you’re probably right.
I wonder, though, if they’ve started the hype too soon. Are they really going to wait until 2015? If so, are people going to be able to keep up the excitement for another 8 years? That’s a long time…
And if they’re not going to wait until 2015, what’s the point? They could have released them when the movie first came out.
posted by Molly on 9-12-2007 at 7:51 am
I’m thinking these could definitely be one of those things that’s so dorky it’s cool. I’ll get a pair!
posted by Korin on 9-12-2007 at 12:34 pm
Thank you! We love Mental Floss!
Mickey
Michael “Mickey” Maloof
Co-founder
The official McFLY 2015 project
posted by Mickey Maloof on 9-12-2007 at 2:24 pm
Forget the shoes, I want my flying car!
Oh, and my instant weather changer…
posted by Barry on 9-13-2007 at 11:35 am
It wasn’t an instant weather changer so much as it was the weather changes were scheduled.
posted by Will B. on 9-19-2007 at 8:53 am