"Don't ban our shoe. Beat our shoe." 

Let's get a couple things straight: CrossFit and functional fitness are a hot market and CrossFitters are a very desirable demographic. 

When Reebok first signed on to be the title sponsor at the CrossFit Games, I was among the "purists" who were wary of such a large corporate entity invading our space and possibly messing it all up. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded as Reebok has helped grow the purse at the Games, legitimize the sport, and even made a few great pairs of shoes for our favorite fitness activity.

Along the way there have been rumblings about Nike getting into the game. It was seen as an inevitable moment in the growth of CrossFit as both a sport and a fitness movement and when it finally happened, it was after months of speculation and sitings in the wild. Nike made a splash by sponsoring CrossFit Invictus, including Josh Bridges and Lauren Fisher. Nike even signed some dude who's decent at fitness, Mat Fraser.

Once that happened, the rumblings grew louder. "What if Nike took the Games away from Reebok?" and "Finally there's competition in the $250 shorts market". The rivalry between the two companies is real, having most recently come to a head when Nike took the exclusive rights to the NFL's on field apparel from Reebok in 2012.

But what's this new ad all about? Well peep this: when a company signs an exclusive deal for the rights at certain events, they don't want their competitors to get free press at those events. Seeing Nike position this campaign as a "come at me bro" moment rings a little false to me. In fact, Nike themselves has the exact same rules in place in the NFL and have banned competitors' cleats, including Reebok's.

Reebok and Nike should compete for the hearts and feet of fitness enthusiasts everywhere. As Greg Glassman has famously said about the quality of CrossFit gyms worldwide "the cream will rise to the top". This applies to footwear and apparel as well and the competition will only make the end products better for the consumers.

This marketing campaign is definitely smart on Nike's part as it'll sell the crap out of this special edition colorway, but why even do it? The Metcons have been sold out since they were first released, the Air Jordan's weren't even Nike's first "outlawed" shoe, and no matter how much Nike wants to pretend, they're not an underdog in this fight.

In the end, these and other Metcons will sell and some people will see this ad as a chance to pick a side based on some weird moral highground of competition and performance. And in the end Reebok still has another 5 years in its contract with CrossFit, so don't hold your breath for the Nike CrossFit Games any time soon.