Nike Takes a Chance With Kaepernick's Message

Colin Kaepernick, a name that is associated with much controversy, is a man that played in the NFL in 2016 for the San Francisco 49er's, where he had made a controversial action. To protest racial injustices, Kaepernick had kneeled during the American National Anthem raising the voices of many, whether it be in support for his actions, or against him.

Ever since, Colin Kaepernick has been a free agent,  he could not get signed, and he had not worked as a football player. Nike took advantage of this and hired Kaepernick for their brand. Taking their chances, Nike released an ad with Kaepernick and subsequently started another fierce debate, once again their were people that were completely against this, shunning Nike and even burning their Nike apparel, and then there were those who supported the idea, buying as much Nike apparel as they can.

In my opinion, I believe in the message that Nike and Kaepernick is trying to share. Kaepernick had a message that many people could relate to, although I understand that his actions could have been deemed as disrespectful, his motives were pure and for the common good. Racial Injustices are still very common, and although there were many ways he could have shared his message, I believe that the way he approached it brought much more attention to the matter than other methods could have accomplished.

Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the American National Anthem.

The way many people are responding is unnecessary and too extreme. Although it is good to have their own opinions, the way that they are showing it is very unnecessary, going as far as to burning their Nike apparel results in wasted money and materials. If these people despise Nike to such an extent, they could simply donate it away, burning the apparel accomplishes nothing except attracting some attention on social media. Though their decision is completely up to their decision, there are many different ways that they can express their anger.

On the other hand, there are many people that support Nike and Kaepernick, purchasing from and supporting the two as much as they can. Although there are many people that grew a hatred for Nike, there are also many people who support it even more. From Nike's viewpoint, there are so many people discarding their products and lashing their anger out on them through social media, but it doesn't matter to Nike, although they lost some of their followers, there are many new ones, and those who are discarding their Nike apparel are irrelevant, Nike already has their money and they are not losing anything for it.

Although I believe that Nike's main goal was to turn profit, statistically improving Nike's sales by 31%, I think that Nike also supports the message of Kaepernick. No matter how you look at it this was a risky ad to put out into the world after all of the hate that Kaepernick got in 2016. I doubt Nike would make this ad just for profit, I believe that Nike also supports Kaepernick's message and is trying to acknowledge the presence of Racial Injustices.

How I see it, the public's response is irrelevant and it will not sway me to purchase or discard any of my Nike apparel. I find that it is too extreme too burn or discard my clothes as it is a waste of money and materials, and on the other hand, it is too much to purchase as much of their apparel as possible just because I support their cause. Although I like the Nike brand and support Kaepernick's message, I will continue to purchase their apparel in moderation.