Nike’s favorability nosedived after the company unveiled former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the face of a new ad campaign this week.
“Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” the campaign’s slogan reads.
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While Nike had a net 69 percentage point favorable impression among consumers prior to launching the Kaepernick ad campaign, that mark has plummeted 34 points and now rests at net 35 percentage points, according to a new Morning Consult poll. The drop was evident among a variety of demographics, including Nike customers, Democrats, millennials, among others.
Prior to the ad’s release, 49 percent of Americans claimed they were confident they would purchase, or very likely to purchase Nike products prior to the ad’s release. But now that number has sunk to 39 percent.
[Related: Trump says Nike ‘getting killed’ by Colin Kaepernick ad campaign]
In particular, Republicans reported they are less inclined now to purchase Nike products. Twenty-eight percent of Republicans claim they are likely to purchase Nike products now, a decline from 51 percent.
Despite the negative outlook surrounding the ad campaign, the company garnered more than $43 million worth of media exposure in less than 24 hours after unveiling the campaign. The exposure was primarily neutral or positive, Apex Marketing Group reports.
Kaepernick first sparked controversy after he took a knee during the national anthem to protest the treatment of minorities two seasons ago. Protests continued last season after President Trump said players who refused to stand for the anthem should be fired.
Trump has condemned the campaign and said in an interview with the Daily Caller earlier this week that the campaign promotes a “terrible message.”
The poll included online interviews from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5 with more than 8,000 Americans — more than 1,500 of which were conducted prior to the campaign’s release. The poll’s margin of error prior to Kaepernick’s ad release is plus or minus 2 percentage points, while the margin of error after the announcement is plus or minus 1 percentage points.
