I can count on one hand the number of Nike items I own, but not for the reason you might think. I like a lot of what I see of the brand, but unless it’s had two or three markdowns, I’ve never been able to bring myself to pay the asking price.
For sportswear, the prices always seemed extravagant. I have a few tops but absolutely no sneakers. None.\
Given recent news, that’s about to change. Give me until the end of the month, and I promise you I will own a pair of Nike sneakers. And for good measure, I will purchase a pair for my broke medical student daughter — from the sales rack, of course.
It’ll be a small contribution for sure, but what better way to say I like what the sportswear giant just did in making former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of its newest ad campaign? After all, if Kaepernick can risk putting his livelihood on the line, and Nike can risk shrinking its bottom line, surely I can give $100 from my measly Christmas fund to show my support.
Swoosh.
I wish all of us felt that way. I wish we could agree that Kaepernick’s decision to take a knee has nothing to do with disrespecting our flag as some like to argue and has everything to do with respecting African-Americans’ right to protest police brutality.
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But alas this is America, and one of the great advantages of living in this country is you get to voice your opinion. That’s part of being free that seems to always get lost in this discussion.
And so news of the sportswear giant’s campaign had barely hit the airwaves before we started to see videos of Nike shoes being burned on social media and the company’s stock price started to drop.
There are a lot of people out there who refuse to see the injustice in police shooting unarmed black men because, well, we blacks make up 15 percent of the population and commit 50 percent of crimes. And, by golly, we kill each other.
It’s been two years since Kaepernick kicked off the debate over NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, and people still don’t seem to get it or won’t.
It reminds me of the daily front-page coverage one of my former employers gave to a German shepherd while at the same time relegating to inside pages stories about black people being shot by Asian store owners and the need for major grocers in black communities.
After telling players to stay in the locker room and do their kneeling or risk being fined, the NFL announced recently that “no new rules relating to the anthem will be issued or enforced” until the league and the players’ association find an agreement regarding protests during the national anthem.
I’m seeing glimmers of hope.
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Nike’s new ad campaign, launched just days before the start of the new NFL season to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan, features a close-up black-and-white shot of Kaepernick telling the story of fellow athletes LeBron James and Serena Williams.
“It’s only crazy until you do it. Just do it,” he says as the ad comes to its graceful end.
After a brief drop, Nike’s stock rose, reaching an all-time high last Friday.
Swoosh!
Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Brands courting controversy through advertising is nothing new, and Nike is just the latest in a fairly long legacy of brands using ads as either a declarative statement on their own mores or political leanings, or simply to ruffle feathers by jumping on topical issues, said Amanda Hallay, professor of fashion history at LIM and marketing director for Dean Street Press.
“This ‘commodity activism’ (as termed by academics Roopali Mukherjee and Sarah Banet-Weiser) traditionally has little to do with hopes of surging sales, and more to do with brand identity, which secures brand loyalty, which then secures (or increases) actual sales,” Hallay said.
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The fact that Nike’s online sales increased by a whopping 31 percent in three days after the Kaepernick ad debuted speaks volumes as to just what politicized times we are living through, she said.
“Cynically, one could say that social conscientiousness has become the trend du jour, yet as Nike has continually built its brand on the concept of empowerment, there seems to be a genuine sincerity in its choice of controversial Kaepernick to represent it,” Hallay said. “Add to this the fact that the word ‘woke’ (the slang term for social and political awareness) is becoming part of daily dialogue (and with Nike’s incredible sales surge), I think it’s safe to say that we will see more and more ‘activism advertising’ over the coming months.”
Let’s stay woke.
Find Gracie on Facebook (www.facebook.com/graciestaplesajc/) and Twitter (@GStaples_AJC) or email her at gstaples@ajc.com.
