Colin Kaepernick’s Nike ad prompts strong reactions on social media
Social media floods with reactions from prominent athletes following news of the ad
Reaction has been flooding social media since news broke that Colin Kaepernick is starring in Nike’s “Just Do It’’ ad campaign.
John Rich, one half of the country music duo “Big & Rich’’, took to Twitter to voice his displeasure with the choice of Kaepernick. Rich, who Donald Trump selected as the winner of the 2011 season of “The Celebrity Apprentice,’’ posted a picture of the Nike swoosh that had been removed from a pair of socks.
Our Soundman just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks. Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions. pic.twitter.com/h8kj6RXe7j
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) September 3, 2018
LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Kevin Durant were among the athletes that posted the ad on their Instagram accounts, which is a black and white image of Kaepernick along with the text “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.’’
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnR8njTHZIh/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_loading_state_control
While she did not mention Kaepernick, tennis great Serena Williams tweeted out her support for Nike, with whom she has also participated in the “Just Do It’’ campaign.
Especially proud to be a part of the Nike family today. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/GAZtkAIwbk
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) September 4, 2018
Former CIA director John O. Brennan threw his support behind the campaign.
Colin Kaepernick drew our collective attention to the problem of continued racial injustice in America. He did so not to disrespect our flag but to give meaning to the words of the preamble of our Constitution—“in order to form a more perfect union.” Well done, Colin, well done. https://t.co/4ALyUxLjM5
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) September 4, 2018
While he did not post the image himself, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady “liked’’ the image when it was posted by others on Instagram. It’s not the first time Brady has voiced support for Kaepernick. Last season he told CBS that he hoped the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback got another shot. He also called Kaepernick a damn good quarterback in an interview on WEEI.
While the move by Nike may have come as a surprise to some, Yahoo Sports reported that Adidas and Puma were among multiple brands that had conversations about potentially building around Kaepernick if Nike failed to renew his deal.
There was some suggestion that Nike’s more than 2 percent dip in the stock maret was due to the Kaepernick endorsement. But Yahoo’s Charles Robinson posted that Adidas and Puma were also down more than two percent, and that the dip was related to NAFTA.
https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/1036978897299169280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1036978897299169280%7Ctwgr%5E373939313b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonglobe.com%2Fsports%2Fpatriots%2F2018%2F09%2F03%2Fcolin-kaepernick-has-new-deal-with-nike-though-not-nfl%2FNEVXLcjvYLze4AMnpnBcrO%2Fstory.html
