Nike’s campaign with Colin Kaepernick seeks praise and profit, not justice

Nike has signed Colin Kaepernick to a new multi-year endorsement deal, making him the face of the 30th iteration of the prized “Just Do It” campaign. A slogan sits atop a black and white image of the embattled gunslinger: “Believe in something. Even if that means sacrificing everything,” it reads. As it presently stands, the announcement is a collection of unknowns combined with ambiguous phrasing. There is no stated reason why Nike cares about Kaepernick or his message outside of what it could do for their wallets.

“Nike had been paying Colin Kaepernick all along, waiting for the right moment,” ESPN’s Darren Rovell stated. “That moment is now.”

The reality is there isn’t a perfect time to care about the injustices that spurned Kaepernick’s movement in the first place. We should ask why a company hasn’t done anything for two years, only to announce this in a brash manner that doesn’t land with the afflicted. Radical protest cannot be repurposed for the sake of capitalism. Black people being murdered shouldn’t be a vague message behind Nike’s campaign. Ultimately, the brand is injecting itself into a national debate for praise and profit, rather than justice.

For Nike, this is an undoubted victory. Kaepernick’s jersey has consistently topped NFL merchandise sales, despite not having been on a roster for the past two seasons. Celebrities often publicly support Kaepernick’s causes, amplifying his reach. In fact, Kaepernick has already generated $43 million in media exposure for Nike since the announcement of the new campaign. And the timing is nothing short of fortuitous for the apparel empire, as the brand’s apparel deal with the NFL is cemented until 2028 as of March 2018. They are free to capitalize on Kaepernick’s movement while remaining sure their assets are safely guarded.

And while Nike will reportedly donate an unknown amount to Kaepernick’s “Know Your Rights Camp,” nothing else has been said regarding how the brand will support Kaepernick’s plight in tangible ways. Kaepernick has been on Nike’s roster of athletes since 2011, but the brand has never sided with his protest. Even now, they’ve said nothing of police brutality. Nothing of the wicked racism murdering black children in Cleveland, Texas, Pennsylvania or Missouri. Nothing of the admonished prison systems keeping men in chains, or the presidency that detailed several of their athletes with profanity or asked for them to be deported.

Black pain cannot simply be advertisement fodder without a full realization over what is being trumpeted. On full display is how profitable blackness, its gains, its happiness or tragic losses can be to the white consumer. Black culture is never believed as anything but property, while being frequently re-sold to the majority as the fad of the moment.

It is difficult to trust a corporation like Nike and understand its standards. The brand has been linked to numerous anti-sweatshop protests and their toxic treatment of women. Last year, Nike co-founder Phil Knight donated up to $500,000 to GOP entities. In 2016, Knight gave $330,000 to Republicans in Oregon and over $100,000 for Republicans nationally. The organization has headquarters in Donald Trump’s towers in New York, which California grassroots groups harangued them for. The linkage should yield skepticism rather than blanket acceptance. What could Nike want with football’s martyred patriot: the eyes his name brings, or the clamor of his beliefs and cause?

In the most generous rendering, Kaepernick increases his message through a branding opportunity. He’s abdicated his career and risked his life to remind the country of the injustices its people face. Capitalism is a game. And he should be able to profit from it as a form of revenue. However, what should be remembered is why we are here, which has never been for the collection of funds. Rather, the renewal of our oldest chant: a call for equality for the afflicted.

Historically, capitalism’s troubling allure has captured many black dynamos. The Hall of Famer Charles Barkley indignantly blared in a Nike campaign, “I’m not your role model.” The director Spike Lee, known for acclaimed films depicting black life and its rigors, was never asked to speak on the issues that elevated his profile while Nike whisked him into ads with Michael Jordan. Jordan — infamous for his reticence regarding social issues — was Nike’s poster child, allegedly saying “Republicans buy sneakers, too” in Sam Smith’s 1995 book Second Coming.

This is the fear for Kaepernick’s new marriage to such a flawed entity. The black athlete is repeatedly used by politicians and corporations, their messages massaged for that of a white entity. The terror isn’t merely in Kaepernick’s union with a corporate backer. It is the question of whether this will actually help him or the people he aims to serve. Corporations do not fund uproar. All of this can be dismantled when Kaepernick’s burden becomes too substantial.

Eventually, we must ask if we are trading cultural influence for currency. Nike, likely, is not selling gear with Kaepernick kneeling, or his stated issues with capitalism, or his disdain for the presidency. It shall be neatly packaged rhymes and slogans, enough to make one remember who is being honored, but unwilling to endorse his true motives.