Greg's Corner

Nike pulls shoes over Kaepernick protest!

Former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick is obviously no stranger to controversy. In 2016, Kaepernick famously started kneeling during the playing of the National anthem prior to NFL games. He did this in protest of police shootings against black victims while the police involved would receive little to no punishment. Many say this is what has kept him out of the NFL since his contract expired with the 49ers. Even though Kaepernick was no longer in the NFL, he remained a spokesman for Nike shoes sparking even more controversy in a 2018 advertising campaign. While many consumers protested that campaign, Nike’s sales shot up by 31%.

So it should really come as no surprise that Kaepernick has courted controversy once again, and again it has to deal with Nike. The shoe manufacturer recently pulled its Air Max 1 USA from store shelves after a complaint from Kaepernick. The shoes are adorned with the original American flag of the 13 colonies with 13 stars. Kaepernick asked Nike to pull the shoes since he believes that the flag represents an era of slavery in America. Not only that but more recently the flag has been taken up by some white supremacist groups.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFl6ifq5eNk%5D

In response to Nike’s recall of the product, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) announced he was withdrawing some of Nike’s financial incentives in his state. Considering that Ducey represents the party of the free market this can be seen as somewhat hypocritical since the market has spoken mostly in favor of Nike’s actions with Kaepernick in the past. What’s more important to the state of Arizona, the jobs that a proposed Nike plant would bring to his state or a silly squabble over an outdated flag?