Bold Statements. Just Do It.

Michael Tolan
Sep 7, 2018 · 2 min read

The influence of media is cyclical.

All trends come and go and impart some action and reaction on a certain number of people.

Nike’s newest campaign is a prime example of this cycle and shows just how quickly the sequence of events take off. Beginning back in 2016, Kaepernick first knelt during the National Anthem to make a stance against the injustice that was occurring to black citizens in America. This sparked a massive movement mostly led by conservative whites against the those kneeling saying it was disrepectful and unpatriotic to not stand for the anthem. This, along with several other factors, caused Kaepernick to go from being one of the elite starting quarterbacks in the NFL to a man without a job. For the time being, the trend was not in favor of Kaepernick.

Nike recently launched the campaign that placed Colin Kaepernick at the head of it.

Becoming the face of this new campaign after 2 years of receiving relentless hate for standing for the cause he and so many others firmly believes in places the issue and his stance onto the largest sports clothing compaines in the world. The slogan “Believe in Something. Even if it means losing Eveything” beautifully exemplifies Kaepernick’s struggle, but also is somewhat of an ironic statement in that, yes he may have lost his job, but he has stood and fought for the cause that he strongly believes in and is still backed by hundred billion dollar company.

Placing Kaepernick at the head of this campaign in turn caused a reaction from the same crowd as before, except this time in a slightly more dramatic fashion. People took to the notion of fighting against Nike’s newest campaign by destroying Nike gear they already purchased.

By this man cutting off his socks in protest of what Nike was standing for, it created a domino effect in the community of people who feel similarly about the act. The trend escalated quite quickly and even got to the point where people were going to major extremes to prove their dissent toward the company.

Obviously, Nike knew before the campaign aired that they would lose a certain number of customers based off of the message they were sending. The calculated risk also has calculated rewards in a sense too.

Backlash by African-American community to further incentivize them to purchase Nike because they are backing a cause that so many people believe in and are fighting for. For all the people who fell completely one way into thinking that Nike was doing a terrible thing supporting black’s right, there are some who may have changed their viewpoint on the situation because the largest sports clothing company on the planet is making a statement and taking a stance on the issue.

Looking at entire “back-and-forth” of it all says something about the power of media and the effect it has on trends and people’s perceptions of what to wear, what to think, and how to act.

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