Sept. 6, Nike’s new “Just Do It” ad campaign dropped during the NFL season opening game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles. The day before, the ad appeared on social media and caused a stir because the ad is narrated by and features Colin Kaepernick, former San Fransisco 49ers quarterback. In 2016, he kneeled during the national anthem to protest police brutality against black Americans and to support the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

In the ad, Kaepernick appears halfway through with a shot of his face and a reflection of the American flag on the building behind him. He says, “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” The rest of the ad shows young athletes struggling against several challenges that may challenge their ability to participate in physical activity. The ad is a part of Nike’s new “Dream Crazy” campaign, and it calls for people to push for bigger dreams.

Despite the good message of this ad, it has received backlash because of the appearance of polarizing figure Kaepernick. Those who do not agree with Kaepernick’s message have threatened to boycott Nike. This ad even drew a response from President Donald Trump, who blasted the NFL on Twitter. While trying to put the kneeling controversy behind it, the NFL banned kneeling for the national anthem in May. However, they allow any players who do not wish to stand for it to remain in the locker rooms during the anthem.

News broke that College of the Ozarks, a private Christian college in Missouri, dropped Nike as a sponsor for its athletic uniforms, claiming to choose “country over company.”

They released a statement that read, “College of the Ozarks has stated its views regarding patriotism, the American flag, and the national anthem,” after dropping Nike and its athletic equipment.

Last year, the College of the Ozarks stated that they would walk away from any game where the opposing team kneeled.

Even with threats of a Nike boycott, the company’s online sales jumped by 31 percent after the ad was released, according to a Market Watch article. At the same time, though, its stock dropped by 12 percent. This further illustrates the division in society over Nike’s choice to feature Kaepernick in their new ad campaign.

Expert corner: written by Dr. Jean Pretz, Professor of Psychology

Dr. Jean Pretz, professor of psychology, thinks that Nike, being a for-profit company, made their primary calculation of using Kaepernick in their ad financial.

“They made a bet that the use of Kapernick’s image would increase their sales, and their prediction was borne out,” Pretz stated.

She feels that one of two things could be contributing to the sales increase for the brand. One, she thinks that many consumers might be in support of Kaepernick’s protest and they want to show their support for the brand and their decision to have Kaepernick appear in the ad. The second idea that Pretz had was that the increase in sales could simply be because of the attention from the ad that was drawn to the brand.

“Kaepernick has had a relationship with Nike since before the current endorsement contract, suggesting that Nike is supportive of his controversial position or at least is willing to support Kaepernick in order to reach consumers in key demographic groups,” Pretz said, explaining her reasoning behind the sales boost.

When asked about President Trump’s tweet to the NFL, Pretz said that she does not think his remarks will impact Nike much. She thinks that because the company is so powerful, and because their risky move to campaign with Kaepernick paid off, there is still a large group of consumers willing to support Nike.

“As for the NFL, I did some searching and discovered that the NFL signed a contract with Nike in March 2018 to make their jerseys until 2026. I doubt the NFL would want to break that contract for financial reasons,” Pretz said.

She wanted to point out that obviously, people are upset with Nike because they do not agree with Kaepernick’s views and argue that kneeling for the national anthem is disrespectful to the country, even though he has made it clear that he kneels to protest racial inequality in America.

“By kneeling, Kaepernick is using his celebrity and influence to shine a light on an issue of injustice. This is not unlike peaceful protest conducted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement and women during the suffrage movement,” Pretz stated.

She also said that his purpose in kneeling during the national anthem is to point out that society is not living up to its ideals and the fact that “all men are created equal.” She also made it clear that Kaepernick is not kneeling to protest the flag or the national anthem, but the injustice against African Americans today.