AFTERBURNERS
Nike customers were burning and destroying their swoosh-branded socks and sneakers on Tuesday in protest of the brand’s new ad campaign featuring controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
The former San Francisco 49er announced in a Monday tweet that he was being featured in Nike’s new campaign, celebrating the 30th anniversary of its “Just do it” slogan.
“Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything #JustDoIt,” reads the text on a black-and-white image of Kaepernick’s face, which was shared by the official Nike account.
Kaepernick, 30, drew ire when he began protesting racial injustice in August 2016 by sitting, and later kneeling, during the national anthem before games, launching a movement across the NFL that has been slammed by some fans and President Trump as unpatriotic.
No team has signed Kaepernick since he became a free agent following that season, and he is suing the NFL, claiming owners have colluded against him because of his activism.
Following Kaepernick’s Nike tweet, #NikeBoycott began trending on Twitter, appearing in more than 98,000 tweets as of Tuesday evening.
Trump called the ad “a terrible message,” in an interview with The Daily Caller.
“Nike is a tenant of mine. They pay a lot of rent,” he said.
Some Kaepernick haters shared images or videos of themselves tossing sneakers into furnaces or cutting the Nike logo off of their socks. One video, posted by someone named Sean Clancy, showed a pair of white Nike sneakers on fire.
“First the NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country,” he wrote. “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?”
Nike stock traded down 3.16 percent Tuesday.
But many stars, including Nike-sponsored LeBron James and Serena Williams — who also are featured in the campaign — backed Kaepernick. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady “Liked” several posts featuring Kaepernick’s new ad.
Nike didn’t provide a response to the backlash, simply noting that it has Kaepernick since 2011.
It is unclear if the NFL knew Nike, one of the league’s partners, would feature Kaepernick.
“The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action,” the NFL said in a statement.