How does Grace feel about Nike after the release of the Kaepernick campaign and TV advertisement?
Dan Samoon ’20
Colin Kaepernick has been named the face of Nike’s 30th “Just Do It” campaign. Kaepernick is a former elite NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, who gained a tremendous amount of popularity in August 2
016 before a preseason NFL game when he kneeled on the sideline during the National Anthem. This sparked a nationwide debate about whether what he had done was disrespectful towards the military or a powerful political action. Kaepernick explained his kneeling in a post-game press conference: “People are dying in vain because this country isn’t holding their end of the bargain up, as far as giving freedom, justice, and liberty to everybody.” In this same press conference, he also made it clear that he was not kneeling to show disrespect to members of the military. Despite his explanation, he received backlash for his actions because many people believed he was disrespecting the flag, and thus, disrespecting the military.
Kaepernick’s protest raises the question of what the American flag represents? Does the flag display support for the military or the “proud country?” Even NFL players disagree on the definition for the flag; During the 2017 regular season, the entire Pittsburgh Steelers team, including coaches and trainers, remained in the locker room for the singing of the National Anthem. However, one player, Alejandro Villanueva, the starting offensive linemen, was alone on the field standing with his hand placed on his heart. Villanueva was a Lieutenant in the US Army before he played professional football.
Along with Colin Kaepernick, Serena Williams, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and countless other popular athletes have used their impactful voices to bring up social issues. LeBron even created a “More than an Athlete” campaign in response to a Fox News reporter stating that LeBron is “just an athlete,” claiming that he has no part in fighting for social justice issues. Although athletes such as LeBron and Serena Williams receive criticism from some people for their views and comments, Colin Kaepernick received more hatred for his actions than any athlete has seen before. Within one year of the commencement of his protesting, Colin Kaepernick was dropped by the 49ers franchise and has been a free agent ever since.No team will sign him due to the negativity surrounding his public image, fearful that it will spread to the franchise. All Kaepernick’s goal was that he intended to not “stand for” problems that are happening in the country, relating to police brutality and other racially discriminate issues.
However, the main reason his kneeling became so infamous was due to President Trump. Trump spoke about the kneeling of NFL Playe
rs during a speech in Alabama: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!” These comments sustained a massive amount of backlash, but that did not stop him from saying that fans should also boycott games. Two days after these comments, both the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans remained in the locker room for the National Anthem, supporting the right to protest. Clearly, the social issue of protesting the National Anthem has become even more popular than imagined, as it deals with the struggle for justice reform along with the anger at President Donald Trump.
While all of this has happened, Nike released its “Just Do It” campaign with Colin Kaepernick as the face. I posed a question to Grace students: What is Nike trying to accomplish? Are they trying to jump on popularity for economic interest… or taking the athlete’s side in support of protesting?
The poll was made up of 30 high school students’ opinions. As I collected results from people around the school during lunchtime, many debates arose among peers. The final data showed that 7 people believed that Nike was supporting Kaepernick’s beliefs and wanted to commemorate him. Nathan McCarthy ’19 said, “I think their goal was to further his movement, rather than make money.” However, a majority of 23 people sided with the idea that Nike was using this campaign to capitalize on the quarterback’s fame. Although the data shows the large difference between the sides, more than ⅔ of the people that I interviewed said that they would choose both sides if the option was given. Harrison Lawton ’21 stated, “Obviously Nike was trying to play both roles. They want to support Kaepernick’s beliefs but their intentions are probably always to benefit economically.” Around Grace, there were various opinions about whether Nike strived to benefit from his popularity, or honor him for his protests.