Has Nike Gone too Far

The Colin Kaepernick Advertisement

During the opening weekend of the 2018 National Football League (NFL) season, Nike introduced an ad campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. This ad appeared two years after Kaepernick knelt as the US national anthem was played before his team's games. In Nike's ad, Kaepernick stated, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything," as an explicit reference to the fact that Kaepernick was no longer playing in the NFL the season after his protest. The ad created a contentious reaction from viewers. Some consumers even posted videos burning Nike gear or cutting Nike's swoosh (a well-known Nike symbol) off their shoes. Even President Trump tweeted, "Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts" (Bieler, 2018). In the midst of the controversy, Nike's long-running successful advertising campaign "Just Do It" even seemed in jeopardy.

Nike History

Nike was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 by a University of Oregon track athlete and his coach to distribute a Japanese shoe. By 1971, the company was manufacturing its own running shoe. The name changed to Nike in 1973 - the same year a design student received $35 for creating the 'swoosh logo' and Nike signed its first athlete endorser, tennis player Ilie Nastase. Over the decades, Nike made numerous innovations to its shoes such as air bags and computer chips in the soles. By 2017, Nike, with a 2.8% market share, was the largest supplier and manufacturer of athletic shoes and apparel in the world with North American revenues over $15 billion (Statista, 2018).

Nike's Socially Relevant Advertising

Nike had long developed advertisements with a social message. When the 'Just Do It' campaign first launched in 1988, it featured an 80 year athlete who ran approximately 62,000 miles throughout his lifetime. A year later Nike's ads featured a Paralympian to advocate for people with disabilities. In 1995, Nike ads featured an HIV-positive runner. In the same year Nike advocated for organized sports for female athletes. More recently, in 2017, Nike featured five Middle Eastern women in sports like boxing and skateboarding. These advertisements enhanced Nike's reputation as an agent of change through sports.

Colin Kaepernick and the National Anthem

In August 2016, after refusing to stand for the US national anthem before his San Francisco 49ers team exhibition game. Afterward, Kaepernick stated "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color" (Wyche, 2016). During that game, Kaepernick was booed at every turn - when he entered the field to warm up, when he took a knee, and virtually every time the 49ers offense broke its huddle (Witz-NY Times, 2016). After the game, some fans burned their Kaepernick jerseys. Many argued that, while Kaepernick may be right to be upset by the thousands of people of color killed by police in the US, protesting the flag was not the appropriate way to create change. Others asked why he hates veterans - still others, why he hates America. Yet more people asked why he couldn't just stick to football(Oluo, Guardian, 2016). His actions reverberated throughout the country, even making it into a presidential campaign speech when Donald Trump said, "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of bitch off the field right now. Out. He's fired!' (Barca, Forbes, 2018).

Reaction to Kaepernick's kneeling, however, was not universally negative. Numerous NFL players, coaches, and owners stood behind Kaepernick's right to kneel in protest to acts of injustice against African-Americans. Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen wrote, "The young, black athletes are not disrespecting America or the military by taking a knee during the anthem. They are respecting the best thing about America" (Willingham CNN 2017).

Consumer Research on the Effect of the Kaepernick Advertisement

As the controversy around Nike's 2018 ad swirled, several marketing research companies and universities examined immediate effects of the ad on Nike's reputation:

• Morning Consult: About 24% of consumers now viewed the brand unfavorably, up from 7%. The percentage of Americans likely to purchase Nike products dropped 11% after the ad aired ( Morning Consult, 2018).
• Quinnipiac Poll: American voters 18-34 years old approved of Nike's decision to run the ad 67% to 21% while voters over 65 disapprove 46%-39% (Quinnipiac, 2018).
• Harris Poll: 21% of the general public said they would stop buying Nike products; however, 19% said they would buy even more Nike products - including 29% of young males (Nike's target market).
• Reuters: 72% of Americans said that they thought Kaepernick's behavior was unpatriotic. Another 61% said that they did not "support the stance Colin Kaepernick is taking and his decision not to stand during the national anthem" (Martis, 2018).

In the face of these opinion polling numbers however, sales appeared to be increasing rather than decreasing:

• Nike's online sales initially jumped 31% (Martinez, Time, 2018)
• the number of products sold out in the 10 days before the ad came out, compared to the ten days after (September 3-13), increased by 61%
• the number of items sold out went from 703 for the 10 days prior to 1131 for the 10 days after the ad went public" (Martis, 2018)

Decision

Do you believe that Nike should use marketing dollars to advance social issues?

Given the negative backlash to the Kaepernick advertisement, what should Nike do now?

References

Bieler, Des and Matt Bonesteel (2018, September 6). 'What was Nike thinking?':Trump reacts to Nike ad featuring Colin Kaepernick, The Washington Post,Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/09/06/nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad-airs-during-nfl-season-opener-on-nbc/?utm_term=.4ff4aba331fe

Martis, Jharonne (2018, September 19). Nike ad spurs 61% rise in sold out items, Lipper Alpha Insight,Retrieved from http://lipperalpha.financial.thomsonreuters.com/2018/09/nike-ad-spurs-61-rise-in-sold-out-items/

Martinez, Gina (2018, September 10). Despite outrage, Nike sales increased 31% after Kaepernick ad, Time,Retrieved from http://time.com/5390884/nike-sales-go-up-kaepernick-ad/

Morning Consult (2018). Nike's favorability drops double digits following new 'Just Do It' campaign with Colin Kaepernick, Morning Consult,Retrieved from https://morningconsult.com/form/nike-kaepernick-report/

Rovell, Darren (2018, September 12). Poll: Nike Kaepernick ad alienated some but hit target, ESPN,Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/24656192/poll-shows-nike-kaepernick-ad-hit-target-alienated-others

Oluo, Ijeoma (2016, August 15), Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protest is fundamentally American, The Guardian, Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/29/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-fundamentally-american

Quinnipiac University (2018, September 13). U.S. voters say 2-1 NFL players have right to kneel, Quinnipiac University Poll,retrieved from https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2569

Statista (2018), Nike's North American revenue from 2009 to 2018, by segment, Statista,Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/241706/nikes-us-sales-by-product-category-since-2007/

Willingham, AJ. (2017, September 27). The #TakeAKnee protests have always been about race. Period. CNN,Retrieved fromhttps://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/us/nfl-anthem-protest-race-trump-trnd/index.html

Witz, Billy (2016, September 1), This time, Colin Kaepernick takes a stand by kneeling, The New York Times,Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/sports/football/colin-kaepernick-kneels-national-anthem-protest.html

Wyche, Steve (2016, August 27), Colin Kaepernick explains why he sat during national anthem, San Francisco 49ers,Retrieved from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-why-he-sat-during-national-anthem