The other day I went to Sports Authority to buy a few ping pong balls for my children. I left with two arms full of high-tech athletic wear. I practically tripped over it: the mother lode of Under Armour. I grabbed everything in sight. Layer after layer. Long sleeve. Short sleeve. Cold gear. Heat gear. I even grabbed a pair of those tight-fitting spandex-type jogging pants. The person wearing them was shocked.
And so, as I checked out, weighed down, I had to ask myself, is this typical behavior of a man 48 days from turning 50? Am I a typical customer of Under Armour and the other popular athletic performance brands? Or, given my age, am I a potential brand killer? If the younger demo sees people my age jogging down the street in “compression wear” will they run the other way? I called Under Armour’s chief of marketing to find out.