Steph Curry tried to shade Under Armour's haters - but accidentally exposed the brand's biggest flaw
- Under Armour has been struggling to rejuvenate its shoe business, which has ground to a halt.
- Its shoe star, Steph Curry, lashed back at haters by quietly liking a comment on an Instagram post.
- Unfortunately, the comment he liked just highlighted why Under Armour shoes have been failing to sell.
Steph Curry has had it with the Under Armour haters. Unfortunately, a comment he liked on Instagram may have just proved them right.
Curry subtly responded to criticisms of his latest Under Armour shoe, the Curry 4, by liking a comment in support of it. Some of the comments on the Instagram derided the shoe's look and Under Armour as a brand.
Curry's liked comment said that if the shoe had Nike's swoosh or a Supreme logo, everyone would be praising it and looking to buy it when it's released.
"Slap a swoosh or a Supreme logo on them and all you Hypebeast guna [sic] talk about how �� they are," the comment read.
The hater's comments clearly hit a nerve with Curry, and it's easy to see why.
Nike and Supreme are both highly sought-after brands with cachet. When they release a new shoe, they sell out immediately. The previous Curry shoe, however, went on promotion to get it off shelves. Both Nike and Supreme ranked highly on Piper Jaffray's Taking Stock of Teens survey, while Under Armour only topped the list of brands that teens are no longer wearing.
Sportswear brands need cultural cachet to move product, and Under Armour's is likely at its lowest point in years.
In a survey of young male consumers by Wells Fargo earlier this year, Under Armour shoes ranked near the bottom in terms of favorability. In a note to investors, the bank's analysts said that only 27% of survey participants ranked Under Armour favorably, while the Curry brand was even lower, at 19%.
In another survey question, the bank asked which brands the participants were more interested in purchasing than before, and which they were less interested in purchasing. About 33% of the respondents said that they were less likely to buy Under Armour shoes, and only 17% said that they were more likely to buy them. That put Under Armour dead last with a net rating of -17%.
Under Armour shoe sales have basically flatlined this year. The basketball star Kevin Durant, signed with rival Nike, said in an interview in August that "everybody knows" that "nobody wants to play in Under Armours."
The Curry 4 is newest in the line of Curry-branded Under Armour shoes. The brand is looking for the shoe to drive a new wave of sales for the struggling brand after the Curry 3 failed to gain traction.
The Curry 4 has sold out on its pre-release on Under Armour's website, and it's already gaining buzz due to its improved look over its predecessors.