With the release of Nike’s new thirtieth anniversary “Just Do It” campaign, Colin Kaepernick has been thrust back into the spotlight. Kaepernick has made headlines for his taking a knee during the National Anthem in the past in protest of police brutality, ultimately culminating in the National Football League requiring all players to stand for the Anthem.
While I may not have agreed with Kaepernick’s form of protest, I did not disagree with his right to protest, nor even what he protested. However, this Nike advertisement takes it one step too far.
To quote the ad, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Kaepernick did believe in something, but to say he sacrificed “everything” discounts the lives and fights of those who truly sacrificed everything and paid for it with their lives.
Supporters are saying Kaepernick has overcome obstacles to get where he is, which is the theme’s campaign, but no one has addressed the sacrifice piece. If Nike truly wanted to use a NFL player who has sacrificed it all, they could have profiled Pat Tillman, who left the NFL as a starter, enlisted in the Army, and lost his life.
This ad makes it seem as if going from a benchwarmer to a free agent means your life is over, not that deploying overseas in defense of our country’s freedoms and being killed by the enemy means your life is over. Nike is trying to redefine what the “ultimate sacrifice” is, which is not kneeling for a flag. It is dying for the flag.
Kaepernick’s sacrifice, many say, is the loss of his million dollar NFL contract, yet Nike has been paying him millions for his partnership with the brand.
So really, what did Kaepernick sacrifice? Not money. Fame? No, he became a household name because of his protest. His career? He opted out of his contract.
Saying Kaepernick sacrificed everything is a slap in the face to military men and women and their families who know what sacrificing everything is. It is a slap in the face to all those who fought and died for Kaepernick’s right to protest, and whose service to our country will go unnoticed. It is a slap in the face to the husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, and children who had to be told their loved one will never be coming home.
In a country that already restricts veteran benefits and their access to basic care, that has a rampant problem of homelessness amongst veterans that is largely ignored, and that already looks down upon those who serve, this is a slap in the face. Raising people like Kaepernick up as heroes for making the largest sacrifice further marginalizes veterans and pushes the narrative that fighting for your country is not a noble cause.
I am not calling for a mass boycott of all Nike products. In fact, as I write this, I am wearing Nike sneakers. But, I am calling for a re-examination of the truth. A re-examination of Kaepernick’s motives, of what the word sacrifice really means, and most of all, a re-examination of what we, as a country, choose to honor as worthy.
Image courtesy of The Nation.