Nike doesn’t shy away from Kaepernick for its 50th anniversary
The sports apparel brand included former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s activism in a list of highlights
It’s a more fraught landscape for brands that want to speak out on social and political issues today than it was just a few years ago, but Nike isn’t changing its tune for its 50th anniversary. The sports apparel brand included former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s activism in a list of highlights from the company’s first half century in a new short film.
Nike and ad agency Wieden + Kennedy teamed up for an ad titled “Seen It All” starring and directed by Spike Lee. In the spot, Lee plays Mars Blackmon, a character from his 1986 film “She’s Gotta Have It” who he appeared as alongside Michael Jordan in early Nike Air Jordan commercials.
While playing chess, Blackmon calls out great athletes from Nike history, and when he gets to Kaepernick, he raises his fist.
“I’ve seen justice shout from the 50-yard line on the bended knee of a record-breaking QB all in the name of equality,” Lee’s character says over images of art of Kaepernick kneeling and Nike’s 2018 outdoor billboard of Kaepernick in San Francisco. The ad also features athletes like Steve Prefontaine, Kobe Bryant, and Serena Williams.
Nike is celebrating the big 5-0 with a look into its archives as well. My favorite so far is this post on the Nike Swoosh, designed by Portland State University graphic design student Carolyn Davidson.
In a video, Davidson says Nike co-founder Phil Knight said it would be nice if the logo “looked like movement.” “I just doodled and doodled and doodled,” Davidson said. Knight was reluctant with the mark she turned in and responded “Well, I don’t love it. But it will grow on me.”
Then known as the “stripe” — which Davidson still calls it, per Nike — it was registered with the U.S. Patent Office in 1974.