Posted on 09/04/2018 4:45:52 AM PDT by vannrox
In a move that will likely infuriate president Trump, and/or lead to a sharp decline in Air Max sales, on Monday afternoon Nike and Colin Kaepernick unveiled a new ad campaign featuring the controversial former NFL quarterback as part of the company’s 30th anniversary “Just Do It” ad campaign.
The image, which Kaepernick tweeted out, shows a black-and-white closeup of the quarterback’s face and the words, “Believe in something. Even it if it means sacrificing everything. Just do it.”
Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018
According to ESPN, Kaepernick – who is suing NFL owners for allegedly colluding to keep him out of the league – is one of the faces of a new Nike campaign meant to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the brand’s iconic “Just Do It” motto. It also adds that while Nike signed Kaepernick in 2011 and kept him on its endorsement roster over the years, the company had not used him in the past two years.
“We believe Colin is one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation, who has leveraged the power of sport to help move the world forward,” Nike V.P. of brand in North America Gino Fisanotti told ESPN.
Perhaps, but for now Kaepernick is entering a second NFL season without a team and has an active collusion grievance against the NFL. That case cleared a hurdle last week with the league’s request to dismiss the grievance was rejected. A trial hearing that requires testimony from NFL owners could happen at some point in the future.
“We wanted to energize its meaning and introduce ‘Just Do It’ to a new generation of athletes,” Fisanotti told ESPN.
Kaepernick became a household name in August of 2016 when he began kneeling in what he said was protest of racial injustice during the national anthem, provoking a major backlash by the president, and eventually NFL fans. The protests during the national anthem, soon embraced by other players too, raised the ire of some NFL fans and U.S. President Donald Trump. The result was a steep dropoff in NFL viewership in 2017.
$NKE reminder pic.twitter.com/wfFIIf6kWu
— Rob Passarella (@robpas) September 4, 2018
In response, Trump said the players disrespected the American flag and the military, and he has said he would love to see NFL owners fire football players who disrespected the American flag.
As Reuters notes, Kaepernick and another former 49ers player, Eric Reid, have not been signed by any of the NFL’s 32 teams since their protests spread around the league. Both have filed collusion grievances against NFL owners.
With news of Nike’s ad campaign breaking just days before the first game of the NFL season on Thursday, the controversy over pre-game protests could flare anew.
Predictably, responses on social media ranged from one extreme of the gamut to the other.
“Nike has always been and will continue to be my family’s favorite shoe,” wrote Twitter user @TheDionneMama, while @jimispr said “I’m a United States Navy Veteran. I gave up my freedom, left my family and fought for this nation. I fought so Mr. Kaepernick could protest anyway he chooses. He isn’t hurting anyone nor is he inciting violence. Let him be.”
Others were not quite so happy. “Time to throw away all my Nike crap,” wrote @SportDuh 17; “Nike will never see a dollar of mine again. Let’s see how long they survive now” said user @TheyCallMeAzul.
Others were even more graphic:
Setting half their lawn on fire while burning Nike shoes pic.twitter.com/rDqGGARzj0
— Things White Folks Like (@Things4WhitePpl) September 4, 2018
Even Iran’s former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, commented from Tehran, saying “The #NFL season will start this week, unfortunately once again @Kaepernick7 is not on a NFL roster. Even though he is one of the best Quarterbacks in the league.”
The #NFL season will start this week, unfortunately once again @Kaepernick7 is not on a NFL roster. Even though he is one of the best Quarterbacks in the league.#ColinKaepernick #NFL
— Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (@Ahmadinejad1956) September 3, 2018
We now await Trump’s inevitable reaction.
As for Nike, if the public backlash against other corporate brand names who have taken a vocal political stance is any indication, the company is making a gamble: companies from Dick’s (which saw a sharp decline in sales after it stopped selling guns), to ESPN, to Papa John’s, to Twitter and Facebook, to In-N-Out burger, have all seen an angry customer backlash – from either the left or the right – once these corporations entered the political arena, resulting in a hit to the top line, and ultimately, the shareholders’ pocket.
and mine:
I’m sure you don’t really care, BUT:
I occasionally buy a pair of Nike shoes.
My daughter buys at least two pairs per year.
I spent a lifetime fighting for this country, with three combat tours.
I have seen those close to me killed in its defense.
Your new ad campaign is a slap in my face.
You will never again see another dollar from me or my family.
Looks as if Nike hasn’t seen the results of the boycotts against Chik-fil-A and In & Out Burger. Nor seen what happened to the restaurant in Lexington whose owners asked Sarah Sanders to leave.
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Should be a rebuttal ad campaign centerpiece, because it would make Nike and Kapernick look small and pathetic, as they are.
The Jordan luster has worn off the Nike brand and they just flung mud on it.
Significant opportunity for Adidas (which has been kicking Nike’s ass for several years) to step up and show their support for America, our military and our police officers.
He doesn’t believe in anything.
He’s just letting his radical Muslim girlfriend lead him around by the Johnson.
They day they break up and he starts schtoofing somebody new he’ll be off of this.
Only to hide the fact that Nike is being sued for sexual assault and harassment.
This will be interesting to watch
Glad I am not a stockholder
It would be great if burning Nike’s went viral on YouTube, twitter and Instagram.
I propose that his black half should attack and murder his white half.
You know, for justice, o something.
What a great answer to Nike’s stupidity
Email Sent:
Goodbye Nike, I believe in America.
Would love to see those same words slapped across a picture of Kim Davis or Masterpiece Bakery or any number of people/businesses that have been ruined because they took a stand for traditional values.
Sketchers are just as good, cheaper, and less political.
Wonder who is next. Maybe they could have a line of Rachael Corrie yoga mats.
IF, CK believes in “something”, no matter what the sacrifice, then why is he bothering to sue the NFL?
Why has he been begging for a team to pick him up for months?
Maybe it should be, “Believe in something, but you can’t have your cake, and eat it, too.”.
What a low class hypocrite.
New Balance sneakers are made in the good old USA.
Have never owned anything with the Nike brand on it. Nike like Starbucks is grossly over priced, and Nike has been known to use foreign labor so cheap it borders on slave labor. Now they are also dealing with serious sexual assault charges by some of their female employees. Nike is in for a heap of hurt. The stock market is about to “Just do it” to them. High up heads are going to roll in an attempt to try to salvage their image.
https://emailtheboss.org/executives/mark-parker-president-and-ceo-nike-inc/#.W46MPlRKi1h
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