Adam and Ryan Goldston invented a pair of basketball shoes that promised to increase a player’s vertical leap by up to 3.5 inches. The promise was true. Too true, in fact, for the NBA which promptly banned them and crushed any hope of a big payoff for the brothers.
Until their “bad press” story went viral.
OpenForum has more:
As the story of the banned shoes went viral, grabbing headlines and page views around the world, orders came flooding in to the APL website. The Goldstons quickly cleared out their inventory, selling more shoes in a single day than they had in the prior 30 days combined. With strong sales lasting through the holidays, the biggest challenge the Goldstons face these days is keeping enough shoes, which are manufactured overseas and sell for $300 a pair, in stock. In other words, the NBA’s ban had helped establish APL as a player in the multi-billion-dollar athletic footwear business, literally overnight