Nike’s woke commercials don’t change its anti-woman, pro-China track record

The conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics offers a reminder of what Nike’s idea of social justice really is: going through the motions of pandering to social justice causes while simultaneously punishing women for deciding to start a family. And then, of course, there is the pro-China propaganda.

Nike has dropped a new commercial touting “the greatest dynasty ever,” as the U.S. women’s basketball team has taken gold in seven straight Olympics. It hits every progressive buzzword you could imagine: It condemns history as “patriarchy,” and it touts the dynasty as being made up of women of color and lesbians who fight for social justice. In its Instagram post, Nike says that “you’re out of excuses for not paying attention.”

You see, Nike celebrates women — well, unless they decide they want to start a family. This was apparent in 2019, when track star Allyson Felix detailed that Nike wanted to pay her 70% less than her previous endorsement deal for starting a family. Felix wanted a contractual guarantee that she would not be punished if her performance dropped. She was a track legend, even before returning to the Tokyo Olympics at age 35 to become the most decorated track athlete in Olympic history. Nike rejected her request.

More notably, Felix explained why she had signed with Nike in the first place. According to her, she had better offers on the table, but a 2010 meeting with company leadership to tout its sponsored Girl Effect initiative convinced her to sign with Nike. In her New York Times opinion piece, Felix explained that a Nike employee told her, “I could help empower women. She told me Nike believed in women and girls, and I believed her.”

The backlash was swift and fierce, and of course, the spineless cowards who make up Nike’s corporate leadership were quickly forced to backtrack. They had been exposed as the frauds they are and by one of the greatest female athletes of all time.

Aside from the incongruity of Nike’s words and actions, there remains the company’s thoroughly soulless position on China. Nike CEO John Donahoe has said that “Nike is a brand that is of China and for China.” When pressed on his company’s stance on China, Donahoe shrugged off China’s atrocities because China is a “very important market for us.”

This is what Nike is. While social justice advocates eat up the blatant pandering that Nike shovels out in its commercials, the company panders to a genocidal regime and tries to lowball female athletes based on their life decisions. Nike is a company led by cowards, and no commercial can change that.

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