Clash Poll: Nike Hires Kaepernick To Pimp Their Products – Will You Still Buy Their Stuff?
Is one of the new faces of their ‘Just Do It’ campaign going to hurt Nike in the long-run?
Nike has moved from using professional athletes for their ad campaign to using a former backup quarterback from a struggling team who hasn’t played in the NFL for two years. The same guy that polarized the flag and the national anthem because of his ‘take a knee’ protest against police brutality.
LeBron James, Serena Williams, Lacey Baker, Odell Beckham Jr., and Shaquem Griffin are also part of the 30-year old ‘Just Do It’ campaign. I wonder how they feel about Nike choosing a has-been athlete that’s made his name by ‘raising awareness’ about an issue (or thirty) that doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue at all.
Nike thinks that Kaepernick is the right fit for the ‘Just Do It’ campaign to reach the outrage generation next generation.
“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,” Gino Fisanotti, Nike’s vice president of brand for North America, told ESPN
…
“We wanted to energize its meaning and introduce ‘Just Do It’ to a new generation of athletes,” Fisanotti said.
Fisanotti said the new version of the campaign is meant to specifically speak to 15- to 17-year olds.
Kaepernick’s protests of racial injustice — which began in August 2016 with sitting and later kneeling during the national anthem — launched a movement across the NFL. No team signed him as a free agent in 2017.
Source: ESPN
Nike must just love Kaepernick. They’ve been paying him for two years.
BREAKING: Nike had been paying Colin Kaepernick all along, waiting for the right moment. That moment is now, as he becomes the face of the company’s 30th anniversary of the “Just Do It” campaign. pic.twitter.com/uccpDStbq5
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 3, 2018
They’re financing the protester.
Lovely.
Nike and Kaepernick has support from Serena Williams and LeBron James, as well as from some rather unexpected corners, like former CIA director, John Brennan, as well as the former President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
So, there’s that.
Patriots, however, have a different view. People are destroying their Nike gear and removing the ‘swoosh’ logo.
Watch the Fox & Friends commentary:
Outrage grows after #Nike picks Colin Kaepernick as the new face of its #JustDoIt campaign – your thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Jvi0AvoKIL
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) September 4, 2018
Check out what some former Nike fans have done:
Our Soundman just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks. Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions. pic.twitter.com/h8kj6RXe7j
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) September 3, 2018
Hey #Nike . I don't wear politics or anything related to #ColinKaepernick I no longer buy 5 to 6 pairs per year of Air Monarch Black size 9 anymore either. Just do it? I did. I set my bunions free. #RemovetheSwoosh pic.twitter.com/68UuGMmIaD
— Black Hole Sun (@Twentyoz_) September 3, 2018
First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country. Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive? pic.twitter.com/4CVQdTHUH4
— Sean Clancy (@sclancy79) September 3, 2018
The bad publicity has hurt Nike stock.
Of course, Twitter icon, James Woods might have had a little something to do with that. He has been posting about Nike all morning.
Here is what he did and how you can do it, too.
My first email of the day… #ScrewNike pic.twitter.com/dz0PHIBQKy
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 4, 2018
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 4, 2018
To be truly effective, make sure you not only #DumpNikeStock, but dump any investment fund or mutual fund that holds @Nike stock. Further send an email stating the reason you are dumping that mutual fund. #DumpNike #ScrewNike
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 4, 2018
#DumpNike #DumpNikeStock pic.twitter.com/rxUbdHcEQF
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 4, 2018
#DumpNike #DumpNikeStock pic.twitter.com/rxUbdHcEQF
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 4, 2018
#DumpNike pic.twitter.com/lRgWLgA9fN
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 4, 2018
Some are rather amused by the destruction of property that you already paid for, but in the second tweet, Dominiqué makes an interesting point.
Nike is on the right side of history with this one. Although they still manufacture their products using cheap underage labor in Southeast Asia…
— Dominique (@domuhhneek) September 3, 2018
Indeed, despite the outcry about sweatshops and Nike addressing this serious issue in the past, it seems they still run sweatshops in Indonesia.
Well, isn’t that ironic? Taking a stand for human rights in America, but not so much in Indonesia? What are the brown people there not worth as much respect?
What’s the problem, Nike, are you not willing to sacrifice a little profit in order to support something that you believe in?
So, what’s your take, Dear Reader?
Are you going to stand with the anthem, the flag, and the country represented by those things, or with Kaepernick, a company that runs a sweatshop, the anti-Trump ex-CIA director now CNN commentator who was a communist, and the former Iranian president?
This one looks like a no-brainer.
Clash Poll: Nike Hires Kaepernick To Pimp Their Products - Will You Still Buy Their Stuff?
Kaepernick’s new ad campaign with Nike is talking about his sacrifice…
What sacrifice?
He made the decision to kneel and protest the anthem.
He made the decision not to sign with the Broncos when he had the chance.
And now, teams won’t touch him for fear of alienating the very patriotic fan base.
But in the booming Trump economy, even Kaepernick can’t stay jobless.