How Colin Kaepernick is viewed in 20 years will be fascinating to see, but it is increasingly likely that this is a man who will be remembered as one of the most significant civil rights campaigners of the early 21st century.
Kaepernick flew into the spotlight when, to protest racial injustice, he decided to kneel rather than stand for the national anthem before a 2016 National Football League preseason game. He’s not currently signed with an NFL team and has since charged that the organization conspired to prevent him from getting signed to a team when he became a free agent. The NFL denies his allegation. A hearing is expected on the matter before the end of the year.
On Monday, Nike announced that Kaepernick is one of the athletes to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the brand’s iconic slogan. (Serena Williams and Odell Beckham Jr. are among the other faces of the campaign.) The ad is a black-and-white close-up of Kaepernick’s face with the words, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything” — a reference to Kaepernick’s lawsuit against the NFL for allegedly colluding to keep the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback out of the league over his protests against police brutality.
Watch the ad here:
At the start of the ad, Kaepernick says: “If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do, good. Stay that way, because what nonbelievers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.”
The commercial’s universal theme is about athletes pushing for bigger dreams. It features young athletes who compete amid various challenges, touching on issues of gender, disabilities and weight loss, among others.
Kaepernick says at the end: “Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they are crazy enough.”
When news broke on Monday that Kaepernick would star in a new Nike campaign, the response was quick.
Our Soundman just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks. Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions. pic.twitter.com/h8kj6RXe7j
— John Rich (@johnrich) September 3, 2018
Anecdotally, people threatened to boycott Nike, with some even destroying their Nike shoes and socks. Trump chimed in on Twitter on Wednesday, saying:
Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way? As far as the NFL is concerned, I just find it hard to watch, and always will, until they stand for the FLAG!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
But it’s likely that Nike did anticipate the backlash, sports industry analysts say. Its courting of controversy appears to have been a commercial calculation for a company that has lost its grip on the teen demographic, which no longer sees it as the arbiter of cutting-edge sneaker style.
Any larger effects on Nike’s business were unclear. Most business and brand observers said Nike seemed to have weighed the risks in running the Kaepernick ad, with Nike’s core customers considered to be primarily young, diverse urbanites who are more likely to be belief-driven buyers.
Whether that anger is outweighed by the positive reaction of others remains to be seen, but most business and brand observers say that Nike most likely weighed the risks of a polarizing ad like this and decided to release it anyway, which makes sense when you look at Nike’s core demographic of young, diverse urbanites.
When it comes to the bottom line – and that, unsurprisingly, is what matters most in all of these endorsements – any sportsman with a Nike deal is an ambassador for their brand. That they have chosen Kaepernick, one of the best-known civil rights activists on the planet, to be associated with their brand should probably not be a surprise for a company that is clearly now targeting a younger and more diverse audience.
