After Nike launched an ad campaign with Colin Kaepernick last fall, some customers burned their shoes and T-shirts, outraged that their favorite athletic brand would partner with someone who refused to stand for the national anthem.
“Believe in something,” the ads read over Kaepernick’s face. “Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Kaepernick may have felt that he sacrificed his football career after he went unsigned in 2016, but the $10 million settlement for his suit alleging discrimination from the NFL couldn’t have hurt. His lucrative deal with Nike surely helped, too.
Now the “something” Kaepernick believes in is scrapping the Betsy Ross flag, and he sacrifices nothing in making that wish possible. In fact, after he complained about a new Nike shoe with the 13-star flag on its heel, the company pulled it from shelves.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, “Kaepernick told the company it shouldn’t sell a shoe with a symbol that he and others consider offensive, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Nike’s stock was down the morning after the report, and Arizona’s Gov. Doug Ducey announced the state would be taking away tax incentives that Nike had been offered for starting a new facility there.
It’s no secret that Kaepernick sees the American flag as a symbol of oppression. After he refused to stand for the national anthem before playing with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, he said he declined to demonstrate pride in the country’s flag.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media after one game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
It appears that Kaepernick’s protest, however misdirected, has some moral component. To see what Nike values, though, follow the money. Another example of Nike’s endless pandering came in late June, as Nike pulled from China products that partnered with a streetwear label that had expressed support for the recent protests in Hong Kong.
Kaepernick’s crusade against a flag that represented independence from Great Britain may be misguided, but Nike’s kowtowing to China’s regime at the expense of Hong Kongers is much worse. It’s a demonstration that, in the end, Nike doesn’t believe in anything except its bottom line. Both at home and abroad, it seems to be sacrificing good judgment just to keep its sales up.
