Just two days prior, Kaepernick had shared a photo on Twitter of him featured in Nike’s new marketing campaign, which is tied to the 30th anniversary of its iconic “Just Do It” tagline. Due to Kaepernick’s activism, the news quickly went viral, pulling waves of both support and backlash. #NikeBoycott was trending on Twitter by Tuesday morning, and Nike shares were falling as Wall Street reacted to the news.
Kaepernick flew into the spotlight when he decided not to stand for the national anthem during a 2016 NFL preseason football game to protest racial injustice. He’s not currently signed with a National Football League team and has since charged the organization conspired to prevent him from getting signed to a team when he became a free agent.
Despite Kaepernick’s appearance in the new Nike commercial released on Wednesday, it isn’t overtly political. It makes no reference to “taking a knee.” Instead, it sticks to the inspirational tone that Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign is famous for.
Kaepernick, the narrator in the video, starts by saying: “If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do … good, stay that way, because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.”
Comments have flooded the internet since the campaign featuring Kaepernick was announced earlier this week. Some industry analysts expect Nike to win over consumers who are more sympathetic to Kaepernick’s cause. However, there have been numerous images of people burning their Nike shoes posted to Twitter, along with pledges to never buy Nike products again.
“When you are an extraordinary brand you are going to be polarizing,” Allen Adamson, brand expert and co-founder of marketing solutions business Metaforce, told CNBC. “There’s going to be some short-term bumpiness because of this campaign, but the best brands need to manage for the long term.”
President Donald Trump later tweeted about the partnership and reaction on social media, saying: “Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way?”
Although Nike shares shed 3 percent on Tuesday, the stock is up more than 50 percent over the past year. On Wednesday shares were up less than 1 percent in afternoon trading.
Still, in a smaller than 24-hour window, one group estimates Nike already received more than $43 million worth of media exposure, much of that being positive.
“Right now what this means is they are winning the battle from the public relations side,” Eric Smallwood, the president Apex Marketing Group, which measured the branding exposure for Nike’s new campaign, told CNBC.
Analysts also argued that Nike’s target audience of consumers stretches far outside of the U.S., and that many shoppers globally won’t be paying much attention the Kaepernick tie-up. Further, the retailer is aiming to connect with a younger generation that puts more thought into what their favorite brands stand for, before they make purchases.
“Most people aren’t looking to make political decisions with their sneaker purchases,” Nomura analyst Simeon Siegel said. “But whenever a brand attaches its logo to someone else’s face, they are making a calculated cost benefit analysis that is something that has been core to Nike’s DNA.”
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