Nike Just Did It

Steffani Cameron
Sep 4, 2018 · 5 min read

Colin Kaepernick is the new face of Nike’s 30th-anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. Cue outrage and applause. All across America, red-faced blowhards are spewing venom while chucking their Nike kicks onto barbecues. But, at Nike HQ’s just outside Portland, I’m betting all that burnt rubber smells like victory.

The timing is well-orchestrated, thanks to the NFL’s 99th season opening in a couple days, on the heels of a summary judgment that clears a path for Colin Kaepernick’s collusion lawsuit against the league.

Of course, even some of those on the side of racial justice and Black Lives Matter are saying the timing is all too convenient, and oh-so-commercial. After all, Kaepernick’s jersey was in the top 50 NFL best-sellers last year, despite remaining unsigned all season after his kneeling-during-the-anthem rebellion took hold in the NFL.

Maybe it was just business for Nike. So?

Back when they made Michael Jordan the face of their brand, it blew teeny minds all across the advertising sphere, but then it blew their brand into one of the biggest in the world.

Yes, Black men could be the face of a campaign. Yes, Black men could sell.

Was that a commercial ploy? Or was it a social position?

Why can’t it be both? Why do we demand principles be selfless?

When Michael Jordan became a pitch man in 1984, it was a turning point for Blacks in America. It didn’t change things overnight, and lord knows we’ve far to go, but the Air Jordan explosion was important. It empowered Black athletes. 1984 was huge. Air Jordans launched around the same time that the now-scandalized Cosby Show aired, changing the way a lot of us fish-belly white folk perceived Black Americans. With that, we also began seeing more Black faces reporting the news, rather than being covered in it.

It was a cultural shift, it wasn’t just a shoe or an advertising campaign or a show.

Ever since the Air Jordan days, Nike’s made rebellion its business.

So, the news of Colin Kaepernick having been signed all along as Trump and other wrong-minded people railed about vets and patriotism, well, it’s ruffling some feathers with folks who think Nike should’ve stood up long ago. The company admits it was waiting for the right moment to drop its campaign. Enter skepticism.

Here’s the thing, though. Had Nike come right out at the beginning of Kaepernick’s rebellion, it’d have accomplished nothing. They’d have kicked up some sand, pissed off the league, and the rebellion would continue on the trajectory much as it has.

But, now, Nike has recently extended their deal with the NFL. They’re the team’s official outfitter through to 2028. The contract’s locked. The season kicks off this week and all 32 teams will continue wearing the Nike swoosh when they hit the gridiron.

The timing goes beyond the season opener, though. Just 10 days or so ago, the political rising star from the Lone Star State, Beto O’Rourke, went viral with nearly 20 million views on a Now This video where he explained to a voter that he could think of “nothing more American” than peacefully standing, or taking a knee in protest, during the anthem.

So, what better time for Nike to launch their Just Do It campaign featuring Kaepernick? That he’s had all his legal obstacles cleared to sue the league they’re outfitting is icing on the cake.

Some say it’s risky. Not really. We know the guys barbecuing their Nike shoes with a fist full of Bud beer aren’t the brand’s target audience anyhow. They’re the guys who are in it for a shoe, not a brand, not a lifestyle, not an ethos.

Maybe it’s not risky at all. Maybe it’s the most lucrative move the brand has ever made, making the Nike swoosh synonymous with not taking shit from a system that isn’t down with freedom, that puts money before righteousness.

Maybe it was sheer genius to wait until the wrong-headed ignorance of the NFL declaration that kneeling during anthems won’t be tolerated this season, before they announced Kaepernick as being top-dollar 30th-anniversary poster boy.

Just Do It. Colin did. Swoosh!

And, if so, well, I hope Nike takes it to the bank. Let the mere act of wearing Nike be akin to saying “fuck that racist shit.” In a world where it seems we’re veering ever more right by the day, it’s a ballsy move but arguably a critical one, a way to passively say exactly where you stand on ICE, on oppression, on racism, just by choosing a shirt from the closet.

For anyone too jaded to accept an act of rebellion having a financial payday, get over it. Drop the naivety.

Being ethical should not have to be without an upside. Being ethical shouldn’t have to be uncalculated. Being ethical shouldn’t have to require financial penalty or austerity to be valid.

It’s naive — and dangerous — to think ethics must exclude reward.

In a perfect world, making the right decision and being on the moral side of the coin would mean a deluge of dollars, not a downpour of commercial consequences.

But if justice warriors and other fighters for the greater good continue to insist that business decisions positioning brands on the side of morality must come without profit or reward, it’ll hurt us in the long run. Companies must be able to be both ethical and profitable without apologizing for profit.

Nike has chosen social justice as a platform. They have brilliantly orchestrated their campaigns to have loud impact with masterful timing, while capitalizing on social dissension and political missteps to bolster their brand.

Good for them.

And if they change some minds and advance the causes of equality and righteousness while they’re at it? Then Just Do It, indeed.

Hi. I’m Steff. I’m a Canadian freelance writer who went nomad and has travelled to 24 countries in three years. I’m a writer for hire and occasionally write about my travels at fullnomad.com. I have a Patreon account here.

Steffani Cameron

Written by

Three years living as a nomad, committing random acts of solo slow travels through 22 countries, and over 80 cities. I write for money. Canadian. Fullnomad.com

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