A mayor of a Louisiana town has apparently banned city recreation programs from purchasing Nike products — a move that follows a national debate over the athletic company’s latest ad campaign.
The memo signed by Mayor Ben Zahn last week states that “[u]nder no circumstances” can any Nike apparel or equipment be “purchased for use or delivery” at any city recreation facilities.
Furthermore, the memo says: “Effective immediately all purchases made by any booster club operating at any Kenner Recreation Facility for wearing apparel, shoes, athletic equipment and/or any athletic product must be approved by the Director of Parks and Recreation, or his designee.”
Just confirmed this is real.
The City of Kenner, Louisiana just banned all purchases of Nike in their parks and recreation department.
Foolish. pic.twitter.com/bJsRMqaiZ4
— Shaun King (@shaunking) September 9, 2018
The memo, which has elicited backlash both locally and nationally, came after Nike revealed that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick would be the face of its “Just Do It” campaign. The slogan is: “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Kaepernick has become a controversial figure because he began the on-field demonstrations that include kneeling during the national anthem. For Kaepernick and his supporters, the demonstrations were a way to protest injustice against minorities and police brutality.
Critics, including President Trump, see the protests as being disrespectful the American flag and those who served in the military.
There has been instances of backlash to Nike’s new ad campaign across the country, including people burning Nike products and the College of the Ozarks, a small private college in Missouri, ending its use of uniforms with the Nike logo,
Still, according to a MarketWatch report last week, Nike’s online sales were up 31 percent from the Sunday of Labor Day weekend through Tuesday.
The Kaepernick ad campaign drew criticism Thursday from Trump.
“I don’t like what Nike did. I don’t think it’s appropriate what they did. I honor the flag. I honor our national anthem. And most of the people in this country feel the same way,” Trump told Fox News.
