04 Sep 2018 Nike Stinks Up the Stock Market
After Nike announced Colin Kaepernick would be the poster child for the 30thanniversary of its “Just Do It” campaign, the sports apparel giant was blamed for pulling down the entire stock market in September 4 trading.
Justin Danhof, director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project, called Nike’s move to honor the man whose actions largely began the practice of athletes and others kneeling during the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance at public events “a slap on the face to the company’s investors.”
The company had, at one point, lost $3.75 billion in value. People burned or otherwise destroyed Nike shoes, socks and other products they owned. #BoycottNike was the top trending Twitter topic. So much for investors’ return on their investment.
In a radio actuality produced by Justin, he added:
By promoting former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Nike is appealing to a small, radicalized market that supports Black Lives Matter and apparently hates the police. Just ask ESPN and the NFL how that’s working out for them.
FEP, which has participated in the last two Nike shareholder meetings, certainly has no lack of questions for this year. In 2016, Justin pressed Nike leaders to explain their support for removing gender barriers from North Carolina bathrooms. At the time, the company refused to directly address or adequately answer his questions. In 2017, they again refused to adequately answer about whether or not the radical positions of its leadership put conservative employees at risk.