Eris

Business

Eris
The Eris logo circa 1992, GTA San Andreas. The Eris logo circa 1992, GTA San Andreas.
Game	GTA III GTA San Andreas GTA IV GTA V
Type of business	Shoe manufacturing
Location(s)	3D Universe Rodeo, Los Santos HD Universe Schottler, Liberty City
ADVERTISEMENT

Eris is a shoe manufacturing company featured in Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Description

The company is a parody of Nike, as the company name is taken from a Greek goddess, however Eris means 'strife' in Greek, whereas Nike means 'victory' (despite 'nike' in Greek being pronounced 'nee-kay'). "Eris" could also an Anglicization of the Greek word "ermís", which is the Greek name of Hermes, the messenger for the Greek gods. "Eris" also sounds similar to "Aris", which is Greek for Ares, the Greek god of war. There are radio advertisements for one Eris product in GTA San Andreas, called Pump-Up shoes. Apparently, they are shoes that inflate to improve athletes performance, however are never bought by actual athletes.

Company radio advertisements in GTA III explain the "benefits" of working for the company. The company employee, Joey, a child who "sewed his hands together", may be nodded towards the sparked conflicts/strikes between Nike and people against child labor who found out Nike's soccer balls were made by children in the Middle East. In addition to this, one of the founders and board members of Eris, Pete Vassal was involved in a steroid scandal in 2008 bringing even more controversy on the company.

Inaccessible Eris shops can be found throughout Liberty City and San Andreas, although the player can buy Eris T-shirts at any Binco Store available in San Andreas.

Radio commercial in GTA III

Eris Running Shoes commercial audio:

• Voiceover: A good shoe starts from the ground up. At Eris we make high-quality footwear. In fact, you can find Eris running shoes in over 140 countries around the world. In the past, there has been some criticism about our workers. That's why I'm here in one of Eris factories so you can meet some of them... Excuse me, sir, do you enjoy your job here?
• Child: It's fun... We get to play with knives!
• Voiceover: Heh, I see... is there a real sense of teamwork?
• Children: My friend Joey sewed his hands together!
• Voiceover: Wow, you're learning some real skills! How about the salary and benefits?
• Children: Yesterday, I made a dollar!
• Voiceover: You see, that's the kind of dedication we have to our employees and the quality of our shoes. Eris Running Shoes. Always running... from something.

Trivia

• Derrick McReary purchases his clothing from this store.
• When viewed upside-down, the Eris logo becomes the word "sex".
• Claude wears Eris sneakers, which includes a logo that is a parody of the Nike "swoosh" logo.
• In the radio commercials for Eris shoes heard in GTA: San Andreas, one the background music tracks used is an edited version of Badge of Office, from the album WSR146 Successful & Determined, produced by Westar Music.

Gallery

• 

  Eris logo

• 

  Advertisement (GTA SA)

• 

  Advertisement (GTA SA)

• 

  Alternative advertisement for Eris in GTA San Andreas.

• 

  The Eris store in Schottler, Broker (GTA IV)

• 

  Purchasable track tops in Sub Urban.

• 

  Eris in Rodeo, Los Santos (GTA SA).

See also

• www.erisfootware.com, the official Eris website in GTA IV
• Heat
• ProLaps