Nike, Colin Kaepernick & The Right Wing
Nike has taken a decision to use Colin Kaepernick as their public face of their current advertising campaign. Which has enraged America’s right wing, with some posting videos of themselves destroying their Nike products on social media. Which, in my opinion, is stupid, you’ve already given Nike your money, the company doesn’t care, and you’re giving Nike free publicity, putting them in the public eye.
Colin Kaepernick was thrust into the non-sport following public eye when he decided to take a knee during the national anthem, as a protest against the trend of unarmed African Americans being gunned down by law enforcement. So-called patriots lost their collective minds, saying that he is disrespecting the flag, country, and military, later being shunned by the NFL, despite being one of the best football players.
Kaepernick has sacrificed a lot to make a stand, using his position on the big NFL stage to highlight the plight of his fellow African Americans. In all likelihood, his football career is now over, being effectively blacklisted by the NFL and ostracized by US president Donald J Trump, the orange one calling for NFL team owners to fire any “son of a bitch” player who protested at a campaign rally in September 2017.
The NFL can do whatever it wants, it’s a private company, however, the president calling for athletes to be fired for using their right to free speech, has serious constitutional implications. But, like everything that Trump says or does, nothing will happen, imagine if former president Barack Obama made such a statement in public, the right wing would lose their damn minds, talk about a double standard!
I applaud Nike’s bravery in using Kaepernick for their “Dream Crazy” advertising campaign, see the video at bottom of the page, which clearly has a political overtone. The slogan which Kaepernick speaks in the advert, “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything” is a clear reference to Kaepernick’s stance on the field by taking a knee during the national anthem and the consequences of that action.
Some right-wingers have vowed to boycott the brand, and president Trump has tweeted the following;
Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way? As far as the NFL is concerned, I just find it hard to watch, and always will, until they stand for the FLAG!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
While others have been burning their Nike products;
Looks like Nike’s gamble has paid off, with online sales of their products rising 31% in the wake of the Kaepernick advert. This is despite, the boycotts, protests, and claims by the president of the United States that Nike is being killed by such boycotts. I always say, like the Target Transgender bathroom policy boycott, the majority of those who say they are going to boycott were never a customer in the first place.
Here is the advert that has divided a nation;
Excellent advert. I for one will consider Nike when making a purchase in their market sector, partly because of the advert and partly because of the publicity it has got from those who would see Nike fail. The most shocking thing about this is the leader of what is supposed to be a democratic country suggesting that people should lose their jobs if they protest. How low can this guy go? How much will the US put up with before something is done about it?