A Civilized Debate Over Kaepernick, Nike Ads And The NFL Protests
The other day I posted some thoughts about Nike's stock and sales recovery following the initial protest reaction to Colin Kaepernick role in Nike's 30th anniversary "Just Do It" ad campaign. It turns out the stock is stronger, sales of product are up and Nike got 40+ million in free advertising by way of news coverage - with experts saying most of it was neutral to positive in nature
You can read that original post here.
One of our facebook responders wrote back with some points that I think deserved a good response...back and forth, pleasant exchange, in today's climate? No Way!
Yes way...thank for writing Steven , FYI I try to answer every point so I repost the original and use the asterisks (***) to indicate my reply. So here's my response to the response!
******* ****** ******
Steven Kojetin“Just do it. And so they did.
Nike made Colin Kaepernick the face of its new ad campaign and a lot of people were offended that the man best known as the player who launched the NFL protests against the flag and anthem would be so recognized and so honored by the sportswear giant.”
Dear Dave, **** Hello Steven
He launched a protest against questionable police tactics that get unarmed citizens dead. ***so he said, but it's become much more complicated than that.
He didn’t go after the flag or the anthem.***However those are the vehicles he chose to use to stage his protest. And those symbols have great meaning to millions and so in a way he went after what others revere, in order to make his point about something else. If he wanted to protest police behavior, why not picket the police station or the jail, why not protest outside a prosecutors office or start a defense fund for minority defendants, or push for national legislation for improved race relationship training in police departments, etc? If you want to send a clear message, why not make a clear connection from the nature of the protest to that which is being protested? If you truly wanted to make a change, why not pick something that might actually work?
In fact a Special Forces veteran was the one that convinced him to kneel instead of sit because it was more respectful. *** That is ironic and lost on most people who are upset by his actions. The idea of kneeling for your fallen brothers makes sense in the context of the military world, but what do all people-even soldiers- do when the flag is brought into a room or passes by on parade? They stand in respect. What did you do on base when you heard the flag being lowered for the the day? Did you kneel in a show of respect or did you stand at attention?
Sure the pig socks and commie shirts didn’t help his cause but to say he did this as an assault on the flag and the anthem is why this whole thing has been blown out of proportion. ***sure it is out of proportion but who pulled the pin? The pig socks and commie shirts do more than "not help" -- they present him in a certain anti-american and negative light, a light he personally chose for himself (or his radical girlfriend did) and it's one that is already affiliated with hating the American flag. ie. commies, black panthers, etc. (Remind me again of what kind of social justice they have in communist countries? ) Then you add in a show of disrespect for the anthem and flag as his means of "protest" and you have millions so upset that they are giving up the religion of football!
Average Americans don't differentiate between sitting and kneeling. Kneeling is respectful in some circumstances-- but not in mostl--- and to think that people are going to make the same connection to kneeling for a fallen brother as a show of protested respect for the anthem and the flag is not realistic and hasn't worked at all!
No one even knows why they are outraged anymore because they don’t understand why the players were protesting in the first place. ***Kaepernick failed to communicate the rationale clearly from the start and has been pretty silent since and while a lot of people have a general sense of his concern over increased racial/law enforcement concerns, many point to circumstances fanned and legitimized by Obama for that and the botched media coverage of "Hands Up Don't Shoot in Ferguson, MO and many don't see the few other high profile media cases as indicative of what is the norm in America. And with all due respect, I do think those who are outraged know why they are. They are reacting to what they see as unjustified bad behavior. They may not know all that went on behind it to start, but even those who do, disagree with using the anthem/flag as the way to bring focus to an issue of racial/justice concern.
Last Sunday I went to a pub and watched my favorite football team play...guess what, no one in the bar was doing...standing for the anthem. I wasn’t either, I served two tours in Iraq. I guess they and myself hate America too?***not at all and you are smarter than that. Thanks for your service by the way. But would they have stood up if someone brought in the flag in front of the TV for a brief moment of reflection before the game. Would you sit? Would you kneel? What would the other patrons have done?
Kaepernick made a choice and others decided to join in whether those players really knew why or not. . How has it worked out? Isn't that the real point of a protest? To bring about change? Has the cause of racial justice changed as much as football fans have changed in their thoughts about the league?
So did he really sacrifice so much? On a scale the average fan could understand?
1.)He had already been paid 39 million dollars
2.)49er G.M. John Lynch said Kaepernick was going to be released for his poor play so he opted to out of his contract, his last year as a starter was 1 win and 10 losses and a last-3-years as a starter win/ loss record of just 11 wins and 24 losses --he was regarded as one of the least successful quarterbacks in football,
3.) Yet still he had a job offer but turned down an offer of 7 million by the Broncos.
What of all that should trigger sympathy for a guy who then chooses to "disrespect" the flag and national anthem to make an unrelated point? It makes one want to ask Nike - How does that rate as the face of sacrifice?
But give it up to Nike for research and knowing their 14-34 audience. Product sales are up. By his own tweets,Trump is tied in to the story as the boogey man and a lot of millennials will buy Nike gear just to spite him!
The left loves "emotional arguments" over fact based ones. The facts don't show Kaepernick as a hero who has sacrificed as he is being portrayed by Nike. Millions of people know what real sacrifice looks and feels like and when it's asked of them, they take comfort in the flag.
I served in the military as well, and we stood for everyone's rights and freedoms.. So Kaepernick has a right to do what he wants. Others have as much of a right to call-him out. But like momma said, having the right to do something doesn't make it the right thing to do.
Finally, my point is that many protests backfire and that maybe they aren't the best vehicle for bringing about change. Kaepernick and the other player's protest generated pushback against football attendance and ratings. . Now those viewing and then protesting the Kaepernick Nike Ad saw pushback themselves with Nike ringing up sales in stores and on wall street. Who wins, who loses. You tell me.
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