Since announcing their new advertising campaign will be led by Colin Kaepernick, the social media backlash has dominated the virtue-signaling efforts we presume they hoped for.
With images of Nike apparel and footwear being burned and real sacrifice being discussed, it appears investors are growing disillusioned as NFL fans as Nike shares are down 2.4% in the pre-market.
Setting half their lawn on fire while burning Nike shoes pic.twitter.com/rDqGGARzj0
— Things White Folks Like (@Things4WhitePpl) September 4, 2018
On a side note, it appears Twitter has decided that snowflakes are just not prepared to see a pair of sneakers on fire and have attached a warning note to the previous tweet…
That is a loss of over $3 billion in market capitalization since the market close on Friday…
Nike may have “just done it” but was it worth it?
If the public backlash against other corporate brand names who have taken a vocal political stance is any indication, Nike faces considerably more pressure: companies from Dick’s (which saw a sharp decline in sales after it stopped selling guns), to ESPN, to Papa John’s, to Twitter and Facebook, to In-N-Out burger, have all seen an angry customer backlash – from either the left or the right – once these corporations entered the political arena, resulting in a hit to the top line, and ultimately, the shareholders’ pocket.
