Nike celebrated its 30 year anniversary of its “Just Do It” slogan by making a bold move; they made Colin Kaepernick the face of their company.

On August 3, Kaepernick tweeted a promotional picture of himself of the words across the screen that read, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” The Nike slogan appears just below it.  

The reason why this sparked so much controversy was that Colin Kaepernick is best known for kneeling during the National Anthem during NFL games. Some people say it’s disrespectful to the people who are sacrificing their lives for the country, while others say he’s protesting injustice and doing the right thing.

It was, and still is to this day, a very double sided issue and is controversial since it clashes with beliefs on both sides of the political spectrum.  

“Ultimately, it’s to bring awareness. To make people see what’s really going on in this country. There’s a lot of things going on that are unjust and people aren’t being held accountable for, and that’s something that needs to change,” Kaepernick said, regarding his stance on the issue in a 2016 interview.

Since Nike released their new ad, many people started to boycott the company by burning their apparel or by simply refusing to return to the store.

“I don’t think [what Kaepernick is doing] it’s bad at all and I sure wouldn’t boycott Nike for this like some people are,” junior Marissa Hernandez said.

Nike’s stock dropped about 4% (3.75 billion dollars) after they announced Kaepernick as the face of their advertisements (thewrap.com).

Although controversial, and a pretty long debate to have at dinner with the family, it’s important that students are becoming aware of these topics and to learn more about them.

“I think the message he’s trying to display about chasing crazy dreams is great and can be inspirational for many people,” senior Araceli Gonzalez said. “…in his promo video, he included many people who have disabilities or may have come from difficult situations and it showed them overcoming what others may think is impossible.”