Nike products burned after release of Colin Kaepernick ad

Once fans of sportswear brand Nike are now burning their shoes and apparel in an attempt to boycott the brand.

.@Nike Due to your support of C.K. in your coming adds, I as an American can no longer support your company. #boycottNike #IStandForOurFlag pic.twitter.com/5JxSMD8SSO

— AlterAtYeshiva (@alteratyeshiva) September 4, 2018

The revolt of Nike comes after the decision to feature former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in their 30th anniversary ad campaign, according to Fox News.

Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way? As far as the NFL is concerned, I just find it hard to watch, and always will, until they stand for the FLAG!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018

Kaepernick began protesting racial injustice and police brutality in 2016 by kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem during National Football League games. Some players supported Kaepernick’s decision to protest and even joined him, while other NFL players found it disrespectful to the flag and to the country’s veterans.

Nike stock fell more than 2% in early trading on Tuesday and “#NikeBoycott” was trending on Twitter.

NFL Executive Vice President Jocelyn Moore said in an interview with Fox News, “The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”
Some NFL employees have expressed disappointment that Nike, a corporate partner, would bring the national anthem controversy back into the news cycle only four days before the season’s start.

“Pretty much want to burn my shoes,” one current NFL employee told Fox News.

“I think this is likely to be the single most disastrous marketing decision in the history of sports. I think it will end up costing Nike billions of dollars in sales,” sports talk radio host Clay Travis wrote.
President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly touched on the issue.

First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country. Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive? pic.twitter.com/4CVQdTHUH4

— Sean Clancy (@sclancy79) September 3, 2018

At a rally in Alabama last year, Trump said team owners should “get that son of an (expletive) off the field” if a player kneels in protest of injustice during the anthem.

When Nike featured Kaepernick as the face of their latest campaign, the President responded with a tweet blasting Nike and the NFL, although he has acknowledged that Nike has a right to share their own message.