Colin Kaepernick's Nike Platform Grows With a Signature Shoe
December 23 2019 - 11:47AM
Dow Jones News
By Andrew Beaton
It has been three years since Colin Kaepernick played in the
National Football League, one year since Nike Inc. made him the
face of a controversial advertising campaign and one month since
the sneaker giant was caught in a firefight between the exiled
quarterback and the league over a failed workout.
On Monday, Nike again deepened its partnership with the
controversial and unemployed athlete when it released his signature
shoe just ahead of Christmas. The "Air Force 1 '07 x Colin
Kaepernick," a black and white shoe with Mr. Kaepernick's image
embroidered on the heel, caps a year when the Nike-Kaepernick
relationship has consistently provoked sharp reactions -- from
nixing a July 4-themed sneaker to rancor surrounding a
league-organized workout for Kaepernick.
It is not a simple relationship. Nike is a major business
partner of the NFL, but has continued to promote Mr. Kaepernick, an
NFL adversary who alleged that the league and its teams colluded to
keep him unsigned because of his outspoken political views.
The new shoe is part of a deal that Nike and Mr. Kaepernick
struck last year, before the company made Mr. Kaepernick as the
face of its brash "Dream Crazy" advertising campaign, a person
familiar with the matter said. Mr. Kaepernick had long been a Nike
athlete, but he had been effectively shelved for years until that
campaign launched at the start of the 2018 NFL season.
"Colin was identified because we believe his voice and
perspective inspire many generations on and off the field," a Nike
spokeswoman said.
Featuring Mr. Kaepernick was a bold move for Nike. He was a star
for the San Francisco 49ers when, in 2016, he began to lead player
protests during the national anthem to call attention to social
injustice and racial inequality. The resulting uproar reverberated
powerfully across the political spectrum.
Mr. Kaepernick has gone unsigned since that season, which
established him as a polarizing icon with supporters who praised
his message and detractors who assailed him as unpatriotic. Mr.
Kaepernick later filed his grievance against the league, which has
since been settled.
Nike featured Mr. Kaepernick despite making the uniforms and
sideline apparel for all 32 NFL teams, a lucrative pact. The
campaign turned out to be hugely popular, and its stock price has
steadily in the 15-months since the release of the
Kaepernick-narrated commercial.
Nike was encouraged to push ahead with the shoe after the
positive response to a limited edition Kaepernick jersey the
company made and sold out quickly, the person familiar with the
matter said. A year ago, Mr. Kaepernick filed a trademark for the
image of his face and hair, and that likeness is used on the shoe's
heel.
Mr. Kaepernick tweeted that at least two retailers will donate
profits from the shoe, which costs $110 for adult sizes, to
charitable causes.
"As a football star with the ability to articulate a powerful
message, Kaepernick is one of this generation's most prominent
crossover cultural influencers," a description of the shoe says on
Nike's website.
Partnering with Mr. Kaepernick sometimes has generated headaches
for Nike.
Before July 4 this year, Nike, at Mr. Kaepernick's behest,
stopped the release of a sneaker featuring the so-called Betsy Ross
flag, an American Revolution-era design with 13 white stars in a
circle. Mr. Kaepernick had told the company that some people see it
as a symbol of hate and exclusion.
Some critics skewered the decision to pull the shoe. Nike
replied that it was "proud of its American heritage" but pulled the
shoe "based on concerns that it could unintentionally offend and
detract from the nation's patriotic holiday."
Then, in November, Nike found itself in the middle of an
imbroglio between the NFL and Mr. Kaepernick. An unprecedented
workout the league had arranged for teams to scout Mr. Kaepernick
fell apart at the last minute -- even as NFL officials were
privately touting that they had worked with Nike and Mr. Kaepernick
on an advertisement pegged to the event. The ad never appeared.
Making matters worse, the NFL's sharply worded statement about
the event's demise placed Nike at the center of the drama, which
Nike rebutted saying they never had a camera crew there. The
company was caught off guard for being called out by the NFL, a
person familiar with the matter said at the time.
The incident clearly did little to diminish the partnership.
Just a month later, Nike released Mr. Kaepernick's signature
shoe.
Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 23, 2019 11:32 ET (16:32 GMT)
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