Just Do It, but maybe Nike shouldn’t have
Just Do It: Nike’s decision to make controversial former quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of its 30th Anniversary ‘‘Just Do It’’ campaign marks the logical extension of politics into two places it shouldn’t be: sports and business. Nike may regret its move.
Nike shares fell 2.60 points to 79.60 on Tuesday (US time), a drop of 3.16 per cent, for a loss of $2.8 billion in market value. Apparently, shareholders weren’t happy. Neither were Nike customers. A boycott was organised, with some former Nike customers burning their paraphernalia. All because Nike decided to use quarterback-turned-social activist Kaepernick as its frontman.
Nike doesn’t care one bit what middle-america thinks. It has for marketing purposes drunk the Progressives’ racial Kool-aid. It’s the epitome of the modern ‘‘woke’’ corporation, marketing its ‘‘wokeness’’ like other companies hawk goods.
Meanwhile, Nike may be burning bridges with the NFL, a multibillion-dollar partner. Nike announced its alliance with Kaepernick, who is suing the NFL for ‘‘collusion’’, without first notifying them. While the NFL made mollifying comments, owners were reported to be livid about Nike’s move.
Instapundit blogger and law professor Glenn Reynolds has a saying: ‘‘Get woke, go broke.’’ Nike’s got the ‘‘woke’’ part down. Now we’ll see about the ‘‘broke’’ part.