The Nike Twitter RSVP system changed the manner in which limited edition, highly sought after sneakers were released and sold by Nike. After a string of unfortunate events outside Nike retailers, the Beaverton-based sportswear company implemented a series of new launch procedures for its Nike stores.
With the announcement of the RSVP system being “open,” users with the fastest fingers punched in a direct message with a specific hashtag, their name and size. Automatically, the RSVP system would reply if the user was fortunate enough to RSVP their pair that they could then purchase in store with a valid ID. If you didn’t DM fast enough, Nike would let you know that the RSVP list was full.
What started as a race of who had the fastest fingers or who could paste their name and size the fastest, was soon corrupted when automated scripts came into the fold. Sprouting up online, these RSVP services would charge a fee for getting you on the list with Nike. Nike quickly learned of the issue and implemented a system by which a hashtag was not included in the tweets, but rather would post a picture with the hashtag circled in and amongst a series of characters. RSVP services responded quickly with scripts that would digitally detect which characters were circled and continue with the automated process.
The RSVP service business has become competitive with several players in the field charging anywhere from $25-$500 per successful RSVP. Each RSVP bot operator claims to have the winning formula and doesn’t charge customers for their service unless they successfully get score an RSVP. What once started as a game of who had the fastest fingers quickly turned into who had the most money to pay for a bot to essentially “cut the line.” This game is changing again thanks to a programmer we only know as @solemartyr.
The twitter account for @solemartyr is only a few weeks old, but already is making life difficult for those in the RSVP services business. Operating on a super computer, his script is the lightest and leanest, beating RSVPs bots by milli-seconds to secure full size runs of shoes that he has one plan for – to never pick up and purchase.
One might question @solemartyr’s motives. Is this action meant to cause problems? Is it intended to hurt RSVP services? Or, is the action meant to change the way Nike sells shoes?
We reached out to @solemartyr to request an interview and were declined at this time, but by reading his tweets and checking his Instagram account, @thenikedestroyer, sheds some light into his mission.
@SLashani I just do it so that RSVP services can’t sell them. Sometimes the store does FCFS with unclaimed pairs.
— Sole Martyr (@SoleMartyr) July 25, 2013
@SLashani the hope is that Nike changes their RSVP process after enough full-size-run of unclaimed pairs across the US on release day.
— Sole Martyr (@SoleMartyr) July 25, 2013
I call my ghost twitter accounts Nike Destroyers. I have over 30 running each with different settings. Fast does not guarantee an RSVP.
— Sole Martyr (@SoleMartyr) August 8, 2013
@Solemartyr is not looking for money, not looking for shoes, just looking for change.
Little is known about the identity of @solemartyr. Some of his Instagrams have been geotagged to hotels in Australia, but it appears the super computer he is using is one that belongs to the University at Buffalo.
Regards of whom he is or where he lives, @solemartyr is out for change.
