Nike’s sales have gone up amid a backlash over the 30th-anniversary “Just Do It” campaign starringColin Kaepernick, thefootball player who started the #TakeAKnee movement in 2016.
The brand’s sales increased 31 percent from Sunday through Tuesday over Labor Day, according toEdison Trends. During Labor Day 2017, sales increased 17 percent, the company reported.
Kaepernick’s ad — which says “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything” —was released on Sept. 3, and his commercialdropped two days later.
“People say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do, good,” Kaepernick, 30, says in the video. “Stay that way. Because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.”
The commercial, which showcases inspirational sports figures likeSerena WilliamsandLeBron James, aired during Thursday’s NFL season opener.
As the campaign made waves, some Nike patrons announced on social media that they were boycotting the brand.
PresidentDonald Trumptweeted on Friday, “What was Nike thinking?”
Trump toldThe Daily Caller, “I think it’s a terrible message. Nike is a tenant of mine. They pay a lot of rent.”
He added, “In another way, it is what this country is all about, that you have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do, but I personally am on a different side of it.”
“But I think it’s a terrible message that they’re sending and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there’s a reason for them doing it,” Trump said. “But I think as far as sending a message, I think it’s a terrible message and a message that shouldn’t be sent. There’s no reason for it.”
Kaepernick, who had not appeared in a Nike ad in over two years, has been a Nike athlete since 2011. Nike is the NFL’s official uniform sponsor.
source: people.com
