Bread and Circuses

How low do you have to sink to have Nike pass moral judgment on you?

Nike Statement Regarding Michael Vick

Beaverton, OR (19 July, 2007)
- Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations
made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals
inhumane and abhorrent. We do believe that Michael Vick should be
afforded the same due process as any citizen, therefore, we have not
terminated our relationship. We have however made the decision to
suspend the release of the Zoom Vick V and related marketing
communications. Nike will continue to monitor the situation closely and
have no further comment at this time.

These are the guys who are over in Southeast Asia getting cozy with the Friends of John Kerry Society and paying $3.70 a day to workers whose productivity is measured in fractions of seconds. The company that markets sinister images of brooding athletes staring down at cameras on rain soaked, poorly lit streets. That markets $120 shoes made for about 1/10th the price to kids from families that are just getting by. A warm, caring, concerned company marketing shoes with names like “assassin” and “bad”. A company that wouldn’t let an American worker make their shoes anymore than they would market a shoe endorsed by Joey Harrington.

These are the people sitting in judgment on Michael Vick.

Not really. All Nike is doing is withholding a decision on Vick until questions about his marketability can be clarified. The Zoom Vick V is on hold, but four other shoes bearing his name remain in stock. The game isn’t over until the informants sing in court. And if they don’t, or they do and Vick is acquitted, or found guilty but doesn’t do jail time? Then what?

Nike probably already knows that the people who are offended by Vick’s conduct aren’t the target market for the shoes. Somewhere in Oregon the results of the focus group are in and probably don’t look that bad. Will the young men who buy, or get their parents to buy, these shoes turn on Vick? What do you think?

Who knows, maybe Vick will come out of this with his career intact. If sales go up on his gear, maybe the next move we’ll see is a commercial with Brian Urlacher on the phone driving through bleak looking back streets cursing at his wife on a cell phone and running down dogs in the street. Maybe they’ll have Tiger Woods breaking into cars with a five iron.

Bring back the guys who did the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video and pair them with the next big thing. Revenue is up 9% and the guys in Ho Chi Minh City aren’t getting raises anytime soon. Go for it. Might win an ESPY for best ad next year.

When the Third Reich fell there were probably parts of Bavaria where you could buy “Air Adolphs” until as late as the Fall of 1946. After the fact, the guys down at the beer hall where all shocked at the little Corporal and all the mischief he caused. Never saw that coming. Just like Nike had no clue for the last six years that Vick was something less than a role model.

Here’s a thought. Let’s keep Vick around. There is always room in the human spirit for redemption. But instead of suspending Vick, let’s suspend Nike from our TV sets, our college athletic programs, and our playing fields for a couple of years. Take the fuel out from the fire that created the media image that is Michael Vick. I’d hate to see Vick off the field, but I can live without the swoosh for awhile.