Battle of The Brands

Throughout history, many questions have been regarded as thought-provoking inquiries: from “Which came first – the chicken or the egg?” to Sophie’s Choice, philosophers have written essays, stories, and books based on logical situations such as these. Recently, however, a new question has popped up: Converse or Vans?

Looking around any of your classrooms, you’ll most likely catch kids wearing one of those two brands. The question kept bugging me, so I decided to ask around to see which one has a bigger following among today’s youth.

Interviewing a few Garner students, I recieved some interesting answers that strengthened arguments on both sides. Danny Perez (8) answered without hesitation. “Vans, because they have more variety.” Additionally, he stated that “they’re just cool.”

Backing up Danny’s claims, Tyler Wright (8) responded quickly when asked if Vans were an essential part of skating culture. “They were the world’s first skating shoes.” He then added that “they’re pretty much the only type of shoe that I have.” When the Vans/Converse apocolypse comes, it’s clear that Tyler is on the Vans side.

Betraying my own shoes, I crossed the line into Converse-land to hear the selling points for the rival team. “Vans are just too ugly,” said Rocio Pizano (she better watch her back. There may be hordes of angry skaters after her skin, now that she’s said that). Robert “Danny” Riviera (7) gave an answer that no patriot can argue with: “They’re [Converse] the all-American brand.”

On top of everything else, there are the kids who aren’t on any side. Hanna Burmeister (8) couldn’t say which brand was better. “They’re both great skating shoes, and they’re both very fashionable.” Others just didn’t think either brand compared to their own personal favorite. Claire Shelly (8) showed a clear preference to TOMS over both shoe lines when she answered with “I’d wear TOMS anyday.”

Is this a historical rivalry, a battle between cliques, a feud from the East coast to the West coast, or something deeper? With bombardments from all viewpoints and sides, this appears to be one hot topic that isn’t cooling down anytime soon, so leave your favorite brand and your reasoning as a comment!

By: Lauren Quinn

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