Scrolling through social media newsfeeds these past few weeks there’s been a lot of talk about the controversial Nike ad campaign featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Whether it was the actual ad campaign that Nike released with Kaepernik featured, or the thousands of knock-off ads that were created, people have been sharing Nike’s infamous swish sign. Some of the shares were positive, commending Nike for taking their stand. Some of it was in opposition. Some of it was straight-up comical…Just PIVOT (who doesn’t love a Friends flashback?!)
It brings up the adage – any press is good press. Or is it? Nike had to know there was going to be some backlash (e.g. Nike “burners”), but they were willing to take that chance and make a stand. In the few weeks since Nike has released this ad, their stock dropped, but then increased to an all-time high and they saw a significant increase in sales.
So whether you love this ad campaign or hate it, there is one thing you can’t deny – Nike caught the world’s attention with advertising and they aren’t backing down.