Kaepernick’s marketing deal with Nike lights up social media
Turlock-raised quarterback Colin Kaepernick has stirred up another media storm, this time with a deal for marketing Nike gear.
The contract, announced Monday, drew scorn from President Donald Trump and other critics of the national anthem protests that the Pitman High School graduate started in 2016. Others praised Nike for amplifying the issues that the kneeling was intended to raise.
“Colin Kaepernick drew our collective attention to the problem of continued racial injustice in America,” tweeted John Brennan, who was CIA director from 2013 to 2017 and has since tangled with Trump. “He did so not to disrespect our flag but to give meaning to the words of the preamble of our Constitution — ‘in order to form a more perfect union.’ Well done, Colin, well done.”
Country music star John Rich posted a Twitter photo of a cut-up pair of Nike socks, with the caption: “Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions.” The tweet got about 10,000 retweets and 30,000 likes, plus thousands of critical comments, the Associated Press reported.
Kaepernick supporter Jolynn DiGrazia of Turlock conveyed her thoughts by phone. She is director of Westside Ministries, which benefited a few years ago from the sale of caps and hoodies with “Kap” in the logo. She also is raising two African-American grandsons.
“I am saddened by the outrage over Nike using Colin as a role model for being his very best self,” DiGrazia said.
The Bee’s Facebook page got its share of comments. “And now their business is gonna go down dramatically,” Ryan Mendes posted. (Nike shares did drop 3 percent Tuesday.)
Another view from Greg Monjure: “The long term potential of being on the right side of history. Brilliant move by Nike.”
Kaepernick burst onto the scence with his 2012 season with the San Francisco 49ers, which ended with a Super Bowl defeat. The next season ended at the conference championship game.
The quarterback started the anthem protests during the 2016 preseason, first by sitting and later kneeling. He became a free agent in early 2017 but has not signed with any team, prompting him to file a collusion grievance against owners. An arbitrator last week found enough evidence to send the issue to trial.
Nike, which also makes the NFL’s uniforms, already had an endorsement contract with Kaepernick that was about to expire, the AP reported. It was renegotiated into a multi-year deal that will include television commercials, online ads and billboards. It coincides with the 30th anniversary campaign for the “Just Do It” slogan.
The ad copy includes, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Tennis player Serena Williams and basketball player Lebron James are among the athletes in the new campaign. “Especially proud to be a part of the Nike family today,” Williams tweeted about Kaepernick.
Trump, this time, did not take to Twitter. He did jab at Kaepernick during an Oval Office interview with the Daily Caller, a conservative website.
“I think it’s a terrible message that they’re sending and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there’s a reason for them doing it,” Trump said. “... In another way, it is what this country is all about, that you have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do, but I personally am on a different side of it.”
The NFL has moved to restrict anthem protests as the 2018 season starts, but the rule is not yet defined. A spokeswoman issued a statement following the Nike announcement.
“We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities,” said Jocelyn Moore, the league’s executive vice president of communications and public affairs. “The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2018 at 5:27 PM.