Nike Is Brilliant
So the big news of the day is that Nike signed Colin Kapernick to headline the 30th anniversary of their “Just Do It” campaign. Naturally social media has exploded. Everybody has an opinion. Some people hate it saying they will never do business with Nike again. Others say they love it and are proud of Nike. Well whatever side you may fall on you got to admit it’s a fucking brilliant business move.
Now for starters let me just say I don’t like Colin Kapernick. It’s not because I have a fundamental problem with players kneeling. It’s just I don’t think he would have ever taken a knee if he was the starting QB of the 49’ers. I’m convinced he was sort of sulking and just trying to draw attention to himself. And when it blew up into a huge controversy he had nothing to lose by continuing because his days as a productive QB were already behind him. So I think he’s a false hero. That quote about him risking it all just rings hollow to me because he had already lost what he had. If he did this protest on the way to leading the 49’ers to the Superbowl I’d feel very differently about him. Now obviously I don’t know the man, but that’s just my gut instinct on the situation.
But that’s not really the point of this blog. Instead I don’t care whether you love or hate Kapernick this was a genius move by Nike. Staying relevant is the hardest thing to do in a consumer business. Trust me I’ve seen it with Barstool. It’s been 15 years for us and it’s a battle every day to stay on top and keep our edge. Well multiply that by a billion and that’s Nike. They are the 500 pound gorilla in every room they walk in. It’s so easy to become corporate and lame. It’s so easy for competitors to attack from all angles. Well moves like these keep them relevant and on top. It gives them the challenger vibe even though they are a monster. You think they give a fuck about Kapernick or his social crusade? No chance. This is a company that made a living on sweatshop labor. They don’t care about social issues. This was business 101 and it’s brilliant business. Sure they’ll lose some customers like the Big N Rich guy who burned is 1970’s Nike socks, but overall this will restore an edge to them that money can’t buy. They know their customer, they know their demo and they know what they are doing.

