Don’t ask if
your dreams
are crazy,
ask if they’re
crazy enough
Nike has released its first commercial with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick as its new “Just Do It” spokesman.
This 2-minute spot, titled Dream Crazy from longtime ad agency Wieden and Kennedy is filled with inspirational scenes of young athletes facing adversity to go after their dream and also features Shaquem Griffin, Serena Williams and LeBron James. The voiceover is Colin Kaepernick who in the end is seen staring an image of the American flag.
The overall message, “Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy, ask if they’re crazy enough.”
DREAM CRAZY NIKE
Kaepernick who has been shunned by the NFL and those following a false rhetoric after he began a movement of kneeling during the United States national anthem to protest racial injustice in August 2016 has remained a Nike athlete with the company.
The question being, “Will Nike lose or gain by taking the risk in using the controversial Kaepernick?”
“Will there be people who stop buying Nike because of this? Yes,” says Brian Cristiano, CEO of ad agency Bold Worldwide. “But there will also be others who use this as an excuse to buy another jersey or pair of sneakers. Regardless of how loud the keyboard warriors and voices opposed to Kaepernick get, Nike will remain standing at the end of it all. And as they say, no press is bad press.”
Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert with Baker Street Advertising, echoes a similar tone. “Yes, it will alienate consumers—just look at the Twitter reaction already,” he says. “But the attention it will gain, the publicity, the media discourse, the incredible reaction will far outweigh any loss of business that might result. For every swoosh that’s lost, one or more will be gained.”
As for the NFL, they chimed in yesterday with this statement, “The National Football League believes in dialogue, understanding and unity. We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities,” Jocelyn Moore, the NFL’s executive vice president of Communications and Public Affairs, said in a statement on Tuesday. “The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”
Nike is the official uniform maker for the NFL, and recently extended its contract through 2028.
