Oops! Nike stock tanking following choice of Colin Kaepernick as new face of Just Do It campaign

Good news for America’s police officers: There are apparently still some Americans who appreciate the work you do, and don’t appreciate idiot athletes slandering you as racist murderers. Oh, they also don’t appreciate consumer products companies who decide to shove politics down their throats when all they want to do is buy shoes.

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Nike executives apparently operate in the same bubble as many other elitists: Everyone they know thinks a certain way, so everyone in America must think that way. (Except on Election Day.) So if shoe company elitists think Colin Kaepernick is a hero that all America will get behind, who could possibly disagree? Everyone loves Nancy Armour columns, after all! Kaep must be the man who will make everyone love Nike more than ever, yes? Er, turns out, no:

Shares of Nike Inc fell 3 percent on Tuesday as calls for a boycott of the sportswear giant gained traction on social media following its choice of Colin Kaepernick as a face for the 30th anniversary of its “Just Do It” slogan. Former San Francisco quarterback Kaepernick, the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem as a protest against racism, posted a black-and-white close-up of himself on Instagram on Monday featuring the Nike logo and “Just do it” slogan, along with the quote: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Over 30,000 people were tweeting with the hashtag #NikeBoycott on Tuesday morning U.S. eastern time, making it among the top trending topics on Twitter. Some posted images of themselves burning and ripping their Nike shoes and apparel. “First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country,” Twitter user @sclancy79 said in a post retweeted 16,000 times. “Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive?”

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That quote at the end of the excerpt is more pertinent than you might realize. What sclancy79 is basically saying is that he/she doesn’t want football-watching or shoe-buying to turn into an experience that involves the taking of partisan sides. Yet by shoving Kaepernick down the nation’s throats, Nike is doing exactly that. It is taking sides in the campaign to slander America’s police officers, and it’s coming down decisively on the side of the slanderers. By the way, Kaepernick sacrificed nothing. He’s been under contract to Nike, and getting paid by Nike, ever since his contract with the 49ers ran out. He is making much more money than the idiots praising him for his “sacrifice.” Let me remind you of something that happened just last week. It was John McCain’s funeral, and at this funeral, the throngs of our betters extolled McCain for his supposed bipartisanship, praising him for his supposed commitment to the idea that not everything has to be a partisan argument. In truth, the only reason the Beltway loved McCain is that he so often took the side of Democrats against his own Republicans, but they put on a good show of believing we really don’t have to be at each other’s partisan throats about everything. But they don’t believe that. These same people love the Nike Kaepernick campaign precisely because it is so bold and in-your-face about celebrating one side over another. So the question for Nike is: Why would you choose an ad campaign that you know will antagonize much of your market? Previous athletes who starred in Nike campaigns – like Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson – may have been disliked by fans of opposing teams but were not detested by significant numbers of Americans for standing for a cause many think is wrongheaded and unjust. The answer is that Nike doesn’t care about the average consumer. It is seeking the praise of the media and activists, and is receiving it in spades. Yet its stock just tumbled 3 percent. Might want to rethink that strategy.

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