by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Nike, a U.S. corporation with over $36 billion in total revenue last year, has just announced that it is hiring controversial former National Football League (NFL) quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, to be the face of its 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign. Kapernick made his mark on the national consciousness in 2016 when, while playing for the San Francisco 49er's, he chose to kneel rather than stand for the national anthem. His protest was meant to draw attention to the series of killings of young black Americans by police - shootings that often go unpunished in the courts.
Kapernick, who is now a free agent in search of a team, is suing the NFL claiming that the owners are colluding to keep from playing professional football. He contends that they are retaliating due to his act of conscience in taking a knee. Even without Kapernick, the act of taking a knee in support of the victims of police violence has spread to other teams. Donald Trump, capitalizing on the fact that almost all of the protesters are black, quickly painted the act as some sort of unpatriotic refutation of the flag and/or national anthem and began demanding that the NFL owners take action against what he deemed to be an un-American activity. In his rantings, Trump referred to the protesting players as "sons of bitches" and suggested they leave the country.
But then along comes Nike, an iconic corporate sponsor of the NFL, and hires Kaepernick! Donald Trump, the king of terrible messaging, quickly aired his imperial opinion that in hiring Kaepernick, Nike had sent a "terrible message." To illustrate his wrath, Twitter soon lit up with photos of MAGA maggots burning their Nike footwear. (One caustic observer noted that they had to burn shoes because they didn't own any books. Others suggested that the protest might have been more effective - or at least more charitable - if they had given those problematic shoes to homeless veterans or shelters. And still others drew attention to the fact that shoes and socks were easy targets, but as of yet there are no photos on Twitter of people destroying their unpatriotic Harley's.)
Nike, unlike Trump, does not develop its marketing strategy while sitting on the toilet responding to irritable bowel syndrome - or the taunts of other tweeters. Nike polls, and market tests, and spends inordinate amounts of cash to take the pulse of the public. Nike did not hire Colin Kaepernick on a whim. The manufacturer and retailer of upscale athletic gear thinks that in the long run Colin Kaepernick will be a winner - and the company will not be bullied by a racist politician who is hellbent on dividing America.
The motto for the current "Just Do It" campaign is: "Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything." Colin Kapernick has lived those words - and now Nike is preparing to live them as well. They are playing the long game, one in which America changes - albeit slowly - but in a positive direction.
And meanwhile Donald Trump fights like hell to revive a Jim Crow version of America that has been on life support for decades.
Nike knows winners, and it's got one in Colin Kaepernick!
Citizen Journalist
Nike, a U.S. corporation with over $36 billion in total revenue last year, has just announced that it is hiring controversial former National Football League (NFL) quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, to be the face of its 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign. Kapernick made his mark on the national consciousness in 2016 when, while playing for the San Francisco 49er's, he chose to kneel rather than stand for the national anthem. His protest was meant to draw attention to the series of killings of young black Americans by police - shootings that often go unpunished in the courts.
Kapernick, who is now a free agent in search of a team, is suing the NFL claiming that the owners are colluding to keep from playing professional football. He contends that they are retaliating due to his act of conscience in taking a knee. Even without Kapernick, the act of taking a knee in support of the victims of police violence has spread to other teams. Donald Trump, capitalizing on the fact that almost all of the protesters are black, quickly painted the act as some sort of unpatriotic refutation of the flag and/or national anthem and began demanding that the NFL owners take action against what he deemed to be an un-American activity. In his rantings, Trump referred to the protesting players as "sons of bitches" and suggested they leave the country.
But then along comes Nike, an iconic corporate sponsor of the NFL, and hires Kaepernick! Donald Trump, the king of terrible messaging, quickly aired his imperial opinion that in hiring Kaepernick, Nike had sent a "terrible message." To illustrate his wrath, Twitter soon lit up with photos of MAGA maggots burning their Nike footwear. (One caustic observer noted that they had to burn shoes because they didn't own any books. Others suggested that the protest might have been more effective - or at least more charitable - if they had given those problematic shoes to homeless veterans or shelters. And still others drew attention to the fact that shoes and socks were easy targets, but as of yet there are no photos on Twitter of people destroying their unpatriotic Harley's.)
Nike, unlike Trump, does not develop its marketing strategy while sitting on the toilet responding to irritable bowel syndrome - or the taunts of other tweeters. Nike polls, and market tests, and spends inordinate amounts of cash to take the pulse of the public. Nike did not hire Colin Kaepernick on a whim. The manufacturer and retailer of upscale athletic gear thinks that in the long run Colin Kaepernick will be a winner - and the company will not be bullied by a racist politician who is hellbent on dividing America.
The motto for the current "Just Do It" campaign is: "Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything." Colin Kapernick has lived those words - and now Nike is preparing to live them as well. They are playing the long game, one in which America changes - albeit slowly - but in a positive direction.
And meanwhile Donald Trump fights like hell to revive a Jim Crow version of America that has been on life support for decades.
Nike knows winners, and it's got one in Colin Kaepernick!
1 comment:
I'm glad to see Kaepernick get what'll probably be more money with Nike than he would ever make in the NFL. And it's wonderful to see Trump fall on his face yet again.
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