Lately, we’ve seen a number of brands becoming increasingly political. While companies supporting or siding against political parties and politicians aren’t a new thing, never before has our country seen this type of social branding. It’s so strong that a single move, pulling a product from development, actually increased the market cap of that company.
Usually when a product gets pulled, there’s a potential impact to someone’s health or they simply discontinue making it in favor of something else. In this instance, one person spoke out and said a pair of shoes might be damaging to some people, as it represents a time of white supremacy and slavery.
The shoe was the Air Max 1 USA, which revealed the Betsy Ross 13-star flag. The flag itself was from the Revolutionary War, back when the U.S. only had 13 colonies (hence the 13 stars). The flag itself has no connection whatsoever to slavery and white supremacy and was made during a time when America wasn’t even a country.
It was May of 1776, several months before Independence would ring out. George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris asked Ross to make a national flag. Ross, who was a widow and worked hard to keep her upholstery business going, agreed. Each colony had their own flag, many of them similar to the British flag considering many colonists at that time still considered themselves English citizens living in America.
A Connection to Slavery?
Fast forward to 2019 and social awareness is all the rage. As America neared the 4th of July holiday, 243 years since the Betsy Ross created her flag, Nike decided it would create a shoe that showcased the original Ross flag design, the circle emblem with 13 stars. Colin Kaepernick, Nike’s major sponsor and outspoken former NFL player, said Nike should get rid of that shoe because it brings us back to a time when there was slavery in America.
As a connoisseur in modern-day America, where having a social conscience is part of doing business, Nike agreed and immediately pulled the Ross flag shoe. It created a lot of controversy, just days before Independence Day. The right was especially infuriated, seeing this as an attempt to tear away all history, even if it doesn’t specifically relate to slavery at all.
While the move certainly could have backfired, it would seem as if it was the right financial move for Nike. They gained 2% bump in stock value, which equals around $3 billion in total market value. That means Nike is now worth $136.38 billion.
“What I’m beginning to learn about Nike,” Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank told TMZ Sports, “they know how to take controversy and blow it up into advertising.” O’Leary is right. When Nike first decided to sign Kaepernick, they saw an additional $43 million worth of additional media exposure as a result of their new ad with him as the new face of the company.
