Nike Commercial Featuring Colin Kaepernick Wins Emmy in Creative Arts
Ever since he decided to kneel instead of stand for the National Anthem before football games in order to protest police brutality against minorities, Colin Kaepernick has been the subject of controversy. The 31-year-old football player and activist has made no secret of his political opinions, devoting much of his public image to exposing racial injustice and mistreatment of minorities in America. While many commentators across the political spectrum have decried Kaepernick for politicizing a sports event and disrespecting American traditions, others have praised him for using his platform to draw attention to an important issue at great risk to his career and safety. Hoping to capitalize on this sentiment among American consumers, Nike has partnered with Kaepernick for a series of advertisements featuring the football player, many including the tagline “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Although the television event formally announcing the winners of the Emmys has not yet been broadcast, winners in a few categories have been revealed ahead of time. This includes the Outstanding Commercial category, which Nike won for a two-minute advertisement entitled “Dream Crazy,” in which various professional athletes, including paraplegic athletes, are depicted practicing their sport while Kaepernick provides voice-over commentary. The ad was met with tremendous controversy owing to extreme differences in opinion surrounding Kaepernick, with some threatening to boycott Nike over their endorsement of the football players and others uploading videos of themselves destroying or disfiguring their Nike equipment in response. Nevertheless, the ad campaign has proven to be a successful one for Nike, which has continued to use Kaepernick’s image in their marketing materials and has sold out of Kaepernick-branded items.
Many of the nominees this year were companies who leveraged the medium of advertising to send an overtly political message, a sign of the times in a year when the worlds of entertainment and politics seemed to blend to an extent not witnessed before.
The success of the politically divisive advertising campaign represents Nike’s proficiency in taking advantage of the current zeitgeist for marketing purposes. The campaign was successful because it resonated with people’s attitudes regarding the intersection of politics and sports, and even the negative attention brought about because of the ad benefitted Nike, as it gave the campaign significantly greater exposure. The stock market reacted positively to the ad’s debut, as Nike’s stocks rose by 5% in the weeks following the premier. Though Kaepernick, being arguably the most galvanizing political figure in sports, was the focus of the advertisement, other socially conscious athletes such as LeBron James and Serena Williams made appearances, and their inclusions undoubtedly contributed to the ad’s impact.
Nike had fierce competition in the category from other nominees whose advertisements were similarly impactful. Apple was another nominee for their advertisement, “Shot on iPhone XS – Don’t Mess with Mother” which features breathtaking imagery depicting the natural world with an environmentalist message, as was Netflix, whose commercial, “Great Day in Hollywood,” focused on black writers, directors, actors, and other creative figures in the entertainment industry. Many of the nominees this year were companies who leveraged the medium of advertising to send an overtly political message, a sign of the times in a year when the worlds of entertainment and politics seemed to blend to an extent not witnessed before.
Tyler Olhorst is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. You can reach him at inquiries@thenationaldigest.com.
