Nike and Corporate Political Correctness

By Brent Bozell and Tim Graham It is hard to fathom that there really exists a body of public opinion that supports Nikes decision to make former NFL star Colin Kaepernick the center of its new Believe in something advertising campaign. This is the fellow who believes in wearing socks depicting cops as pigs and wears a pro-Fidel Castro T-shirt because he believes that under that murderous dictator Cuba was a better country than his own perhaps because he believes his country was founded on slavery and the genocide of Native Americans. Washington Post sports columnist Barry Svrluga gushed over the ad saying: Nike did what the NFL hasnt been able to do: It chose a side. That it happened to be correct is all the better. The full slogan Nike is unveiling is especially obnoxious when Kaepernicks name is attached to it: Believe is something. Even if it means sacrificing everything. Hes a pampered multimillionaire athlete and even though his career is all but over he still somehow commands a contract reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars. Theres sacrifice for you. You wonder what the families of fallen police officers are thinking right now. The inmates are running the asylum. This decision was beyond idiotic and Nike deserves the punishment its receiving. Nikes calculation is that what Kaepernick brings exceeds the money hes being paid for surely he has a following in Americas fractured society. But enough to generate tens of millions of dollars in new sales to balance the books? Oops. Make that tens of millions plus $3750000000. In one day Nike lost almost $4 billion in valuation because of this according to The Wrap. This decision has backfired so badly it should be made a case study in The Stupidest Marketing Plan Ever Devised. The public relations mess it has created is one for the books. A new Morning Consult survey of thousands of people showed that Nikes favorability has collapsed. Before the announcement Nike had a net 69 favorable impression among consumers which has dropped 34 points to 35 favorable. And get this: Among younger generations Nike users African Americans and other key demographics Nikes favorability declined rather than improved. The internet is ablaze in disgust. Actually its peoples shoes that are being set on fire all over the country and posted on social media. Worse still this disaster isnt going to blow over as Nikes panicked marketing department is surely praying will happen. Every single time the public sees this arrogant disgraceful ingrates face on a Nike ad the determination not to purchase that companys products will only grow. This is just another day at the office for that mess known as the NFL once so embraced by the public and today held in disdain. Its everything about it. Its the spoiled players. The cowardly owners. The left-wing broadcasters. And now with the NFL having signed a 10-year deal with Nike to make it an official sponsor its the advertisers. Its full-scale rot. And as a result the numbers continue to plummet. Preseason ratings are down yet again. Sports Media Watch reported that NFL preseason viewership was down 9 percent across NBC CBS Fox ESPN and the NFL Network. Strangely the Cleveland Browns drew a higher audience. Without the Browns games preseason viewership crashed 18 percent. Viewers who did bother tuning in saw a lot of empty seats in the stands as well. The Sunday-night game on Aug. 26 featuring the Dallas Cowboys was the teams least-watched broadcast on a network since 2009. A game between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals that same day was the least-watched preseason matchup on Fox since 2008. A recent poll commissioned at the Media Research Center found that 75 percent agreed with the statement When I watch live sports or entertainment shows on television I am trying to get away from politics and do not want to be bombarded with partisan political messages. What do you think that 75 percent thinks now? What will those people think every time they see a Nike commercial celebrating this man? Truth is many wont see that ad because theyll no longer be watching the NFL. Believe in something really offensive. Even if it means sacrificing everything including your own company. And the NFL while youre at it -- that would have been a far more accurate tag line.