Reebok removes soda machines, sets tone for healthy lifestyle

CANTON — Earlier this week, soda machines were removed from the world headquarters of Reebok in Canton.

A creative video was released by the company, recalling a famous scene in the movie "Jurassic Park," as a glass filled with water shakes while a booming noise reverberates through the office.

It's quickly revealed that a soda machine is being physically rolled out of the building, end over end, by a muscular man, who just so happens to play a key role in the fitness vision of the sneaker and apparel giant.

When you’re an industry leader, it’s only natural to lead by example, so each day hundreds of employees based in Reebok’s headquarters escape their desks and cubicles for a CrossFit session

"Five hundred of the 1,000 employees CrossFitting, with twelve classes, on average, per day," said Austin Malleolo, the man who stars in the soda machine video and also oversees Reebok's on-campus CrossFit program. "From six in the morning to seven at night. It's a full-fledged operation of getting the Reebok employees to do CrossFit."

The CrossFit craze in Canton is a focused effort from Reebok's management to practice what the company preaches. Better fitness, they believe, leads to a better mindset and more confidence, which leads to more success, both personally and professionally, for employees.

"As a brand, if you look back to the '80s and the '90s, when Reebok really exploded onto the scene, we were part and parcel to the whole aerobics movement," said Mike Kratochwill, Reebok's senior director of CrossFit positioning. "We actually created that movement. That's our heritage and fitness is at the core in the DNA of our company."

"The president of Reebok comes to the 12 o'clock class every day," said Malleolo. "We make product to allow people to do this stuff and everyone that makes it, markets it and creates it is doing this stuff day in and day out and that's a pretty special testament."

As for the removal of those soda machines, Kratochwill says, "We figure as a brand we're going to support fitness and nutrition and creating a deterrent for people not to have access to soda is a good first step."

Cox Media Group