On Monday, September 24, I attended a presentation by Dr. Carveth, a communication specialist who discussed the new Nike ad. The Nike ad involves the tagline, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” which premiered on the 30th anniversary of the brand’s iconic line of “Just Do It.” The ad features a voice over describing that if people say your dreams are crazy, it is not an insult, but a compliment. Various imagines of athletics with handicaps are shown overcoming their obstacles and achieving their dreams.
The ad, while inspirational, has drawn controversy to it, especially with the ad’s particular use of former NFL star, Colin Kapernick, as a spokesperson. Kapernick, who has been in some hot water with the NFL since 2011, has not been signed to any major league football teams because of him being the first player to take a knee during the National Anthem. For him, the phrase “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything “ really sticks out in recent events especially with the way world events are turning at a turmoils rate.
Back in 2011, to increase eagerness among the armed services and to promote patriotism, the Department of Defense paid the NFL $12.5 million dollars if they played the National Anthem at the start of every kick-off game. The strategy worked for a while, at least until one tape-over of a game revealed that one player was kneeling down during the flag song. That player was none other than Colin Kapernick himself. He was kneeling down in protest against the police who were not acquitted for shooting unarmed young African-American men.
This act led a spur of debates on both sides of the political spectrum he Democrats said that he had every right to express his views as an American citizen. While on the other hand, the Republicans loudly exclaimed that what he was doing was un-American and that he had not sacrificed anything for his country unlike those that put their lives on the line. Regardless of your own personal views on the matter, the bottom line was that by the end of the 2016 season, Kapernick was out on the streets and out of a job as football star.
In regards to what Dr. Carveth said about the ad, it was quite thought-provoking. One of my personal favorite facts from him was, “Nike’s international market is made up of 60% of Europe and only 40% of the United States, and from a marketing standpoint, the move to have him as a spokesperson was a massive risk.” I agree with Dr. Carveth’s statement, because the day before the ad premiered Nike’s stock on the stock market was worth $79.01 a share; following the ad’s release, the stock rose again to $83.75.
Now, that is not to say some people were outright supportive of Nike’s publicity stunt. Videos and pictures of people setting their sports paraphernalia on fire and cutting out the famous swish logo, soon made rounds on the internet and social media sites. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I believe that destroying your home in a fire (in all the cases that people burned their sneakers), is a little bit on the extreme side.