The company is not the first to inject politics into its marketing, but the tactic has backfired in the past.Published On<\/span>Sept. 4, 2018<\/time>Credit<\/span>Credit<\/span>Image by Ben Margo\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By\u00a0Kevin Draper<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0 Julie Creswell<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0 Sapna Maheshwari<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Sept. 4, 2018 (NYTimes.com)<\/time>\n
<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Nike has long relied on controversy in marketing an image of edgy youthfulness. The company had Charles Barkley declare that he was not a role model and Tiger Woods remind people that some country clubs would turn him away because of his skin color. It dressed the tennis player Andre Agassi in jean shorts.<\/p>\n
This week Nike returned to that tradition, revealing Colin Kaepernick, the polarizing former N.F.L. quarterback, as a\u00a0 face of a major new marketing campaign<\/a>\u00a0honoring the 30th anniversary of its iconic \u201cJust Do It\u201d slogan, a move that may prove to be its most controversial yet.<\/p>\n
In an era rife with divisive political discourse, most major public companies try to avoid taking stances that could make customers angry, particularly when rabid social media campaigns can cast any decision into a larger social statement. Yet Nike has signed Mr. Kaepernick, perhaps the most divisive American athlete of his generation, to a lucrative new contract and will produce branded apparel with his name and image.<\/p>\n
In 2016, Mr. Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest racism, police brutality and social injustice, and a handful of other players followed suit, kneeling, locking arms or raising their fists during \u201cThe Star-Spangled Banner.\u201d President Trump turned it into a political fight through a series of critical tweets and public statements about how the protesting players should be fired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Nike\u2019s strategy risks alienating countless consumers who believe the national anthem protests that Mr. Kaepernick began are disrespectful. Shares of Nike on Tuesday were down $2.60, or more than 3 percent, though it is unclear how much of that could be blamed on Mr. Kaepernick or other market forces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
The decision will undoubtedly have ramifications for the N.F.L., which is caught in the middle of the debate \u2014 the league is a major partner of Nike\u2019s but is also being sued by Mr. Kaepernick, who has\u00a0 accused the league\u2019s 32 teams of colluding<\/a>\u00a0not to give him a contract because of his on-field demonstrations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Image<\/span> $\"\"$ <\/div>
Serena Williams hit the headlines for her eye-catching, body-hugging black catsuit at the French Open. Tournament organizers recently outlawed the suit.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Christophe Simon\/Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
However, it could pay off among Nike\u2019s base of young customers and fans, according to analysts, and signals that political stances could be seen as winning issues by some brands. Nearly two-thirds of individuals who wear Nike in the United States are under 35 years old, and are much more racially diverse than the baby boomer population, said Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst at the NPD Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Nike went into this absolutely knowing what they were doing, with the intention that some people would be offended,\u201d Mr. Powell said. \u201cBut the people buying their products, whether they are a millennial or a Gen Z consumer, those consumers want their brands to take visible, social positions, and this is an opportunity for Nike to do just that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
A\u00a0recent survey from Morning Consult<\/a>\u00a0echoes this. Urban and young consumers were more likely to say they would react favorably to a company that advocated the right of protesters to kneel during the national anthem. Indeed, on social media \u2014 where the nation\u2019s youth live and breathe \u2014 Mr. Kaepernick attracted more than one million responses on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in the hours after he announced the Nike partnership, according to ListenFirst, a social media analytics company.<\/p>\n
On Twitter, more than 100,000 posts in the first 24 hours included the hashtag #BoycottNike, but the firm\u2019s analysis showed \u201cmore support for Nike and Kaepernick than we see negative actions taken against them,\u201d said Jason Klein, co-chief executive of ListenFirst. The campaign, which was announced with a simple tweet by Mr. Kaepernick, has also\u00a0 generated at least $43 million in free advertising for Nike<\/a>, according to one estimate.<\/p>\n
The Kaepernick partnership comes on the heels of a\u00a0 report by The New York Times<\/a>\u00a0that Nike was a hostile and abusive work environment for women. In August, two women\u00a0 filed a class-action lawsuit against Nike<\/a>claiming gender-pay discrimination and sexual harassment.<\/p>\n
Still, the timing of the partnership with Mr. Kaepernick caught many industry veterans, as well as the N.F.L., off guard. For more than a year, Nike has virtually ignored Mr. Kaepernick and declined to use him in any of its marketing campaigns, even though he has been under contract to the Oregon-based company since 2011.<\/p>\n
The new partnership comes months after Nike extended its agreement with the N.F.L. to provide on-field uniforms for all 32 of the league\u2019s teams. On Monday, when asked if Nike had informed the N.F.L. about the campaign beforehand, a Nike spokeswoman said that \u201cColin is not currently employed by an N.F.L. team and has no contractual obligation to the N.F.L.\u201d<\/p>\n
The N.F.L. did not address the campaign Monday, then released a statement Tuesday in which it said, \u201cThe social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Image<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
$\"\"$ <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
Former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick appears as a face of the Nike advertisement marking the 30th anniversary of its \u201cJust Do It\u201d slogan in this image released by Nike.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Nike<\/span><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n
President Trump was quiet on Twitter, but The Daily Caller published an interview with Mr. Trump late Tuesday in which he said Nike sent a \u201cterrible message\u201d in making Mr. Kaepernick one of the faces its campaign, and noted that the company was a tenant of his and paid \u201ca lot of rent,\u201d referring to its Niketown store on East 57th Street in New York. Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized players, team owners and the N.F.L. for not forcing players to stand for the national anthem, framing the players\u2019 acts of protest against racism and police brutality as unpatriotic and disrespectful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
The N.F.L. has struggled to manage the criticism. It enacted a new rule requiring players to stand during the national anthem or to remain in the locker room, then put the rule on hold after several owners said they would not penalize players and the N.F.L. Players Association vowed to challenge it.<\/p>\n
Similarly, sportswear companies have stumbled when addressing social justice campaigns and Mr. Trump. When Under Armour\u2019s chief executive, Kevin Plank, offered light praise to the president in early 2017, he ignited a firestorm that drew threats of a boycott of the company\u2019s products as well as sharp criticism,\u00a0notably from the N.B.A. star Stephen Curry<\/a>, who endorses Under Armour products.<\/p>\n
Nike, though, has a history of pushing headfirst into of-the-moment debates, whether through a sleek, socially pointed advertisement, or with the provocative clothing and shoes its superstar athletes wear.<\/p>\n
\u201cNike from Day 1 has really been a brand that has stood up to and stood for things that were important to them and important to their athletes, so I think there\u2019s a little precedence there,\u201d said Mary Scott, a president at UEG, a sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency.<\/p>\n
Last year, as a part of Black History Month, Nike released a campaign titled \u201cEquality\u201d that featured LeBron James, Serena Williams, Kevin Durant and others. When French Open officials announced this summer that Ms. Williams\u2019s black catsuit would no longer be permitted attire on the tournament\u2019s courts, Nike tweeted in response, \u201cYou can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, there might be two simple explanations for Nike\u2019s move: money and attention. Mr. Kaepernick\u2019s jersey was among top 50 in sales during the second quarter of 2017, even though he was not on an N.F.L. roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen\u2019s the last time we talked about a Nike campaign?\u201d Ms. Scott said. \u201cThey have so many that are so great. But there seems to be a pointed effort around this that we might not have seen in a while, especially around really hot-button topics that now the world, not just the sports world, are really grappling with.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
A version of this article appears in print on\u00a0Sept. 4, 2018<\/time>, on Page\u00a0A1\u00a0of the New York edition\u00a0with the headline:\u00a0Take a Big Risk On an Activist? Nike Just Did It.\u00a0Order Reprints<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0 Today\u2019s Paper<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0 Subscribe<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The company is not the first to inject politics into its marketing, but the tactic has backfired in the past.Published OnSept. 4, 2018CreditCreditImage by Ben Margo\/Associated Press By\u00a0Kevin Draper,\u00a0Julie Creswell\u00a0and\u00a0Sapna Maheshwari Sept. 4, 2018 (NYTimes.com) Nike has long relied on controversy in marketing an image of edgy youthfulness. The company… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}