Nike is Sponsoring a Revolution
Six years after being drafted, Colin Kaepernick is no longer playing football. He has dedicated his life to something ‘bigger.’

On the 30th Anniversary of Nike’s Just do it campaign, the company made waves by featuring Colin Kaepernick. This is coming on the tail end of a court dispute that Kaepernick was having with the NFL. He is claiming they ‘blackballed’ him due to taking a knee during the national anthem. When asked about the kneeling post-game he said, “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.” Kaepernick, a conference champion quarterback, has not played since the close of the 2016 season.
In the fall of 2017, Nike released an ad titled “Equality” featuring LeBron James, Serena Williams, and Kevin Durant. All of whom are champions, and all of whom have faced racial bias from the media. Laura Ingrham on Fox News told the basketball players to “Shut up and Dribble.” The comment came after airing footage from an ESPN interview with LeBron and Keving Durant dicussing their opinions toward President Trump’s policy actions thus far. Serena Williams was told to not wear her iconic ‘cat suit’ to the French Open this year even though she had done so in years past. “It will no longer be accepted,” said the French Tennis Federation president. “One must respect the game and the place.” Oddly enough, that is the same word choice used to criticise Colin Kaepernick.
Nike, as a corporation, has thrusted themselves into the social and political conversations affecting their athletes. They are no longer selling products, but rather ideas. They are sending a message like Apple did in 1984. They no longer sell products, they’re selling ideas.
This is playing the long game in its purest form. Nike is reaching out to the next generation of consumers. The one’s who will be the judges of history. The one’s who look back, and decide if these athletes, were treated unfairly.
Consumer culture has adapted to the hyper-partisan times we live in If they haven’t already people will begin to gradually align brands’ values with their own. Millennials have an overwhelming awareness about the brands that they shop from, and also have extreme brand loyalty. In fact, Nike is one of the most popular brands among millennials. Nike likes to walk it like they talk it, and right now they are they are saying discrimination, and prejudicial behaviors toward African-Americans, has got to stop.
