No PR executive would risk losing 1/2 of their customer base when there are numerous apolitical athletes who could represent them very well. PR’s job is to attract customers, not repel them. What cereal ever sold well with a turd on the box?
What is obvious is that the people in charge at Nike have let their ideology outweigh their business sense - big time. Heads will roll before this is over. The CEO & head of PR are doomed. Shareholders will see to that.
From the customer perspective, it is much easier to NOT buy something than to go & buy it. I very much doubt that Kapernick’s admirers will make up for 1/2 the country outraged by him. Boycotters have very long memories*, however fickle shoppers do not.
* I haven’t eaten at Hardee’s since 1962 - they food poisoned me & my family.
I have long believed that a lot of people at higher management level in corporate America are not as competent as it looks. They got their positions via “communication skill”, not real competence. This Collins Nike ad is proof.