Nike’s most controversial ad campaign
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 14 April 2022
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Remember the Colin Kaepernick advert for Nike? It’s one of the most controversial and successful advertising campaigns of the past decade. Former US President Donald Trump said the advert sent a terrible message but Nike saw a 30% boost in sales. In this episode of Business Daily former Nike Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Hoffman, the creative force behind the campaign, tells us how it came about and why diversity in advertising really matters.
Presenter: Rahul Tandon Producer: Carmel O’Grady Image: San Francisco 49ers players Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid take a knee prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys; Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I mean, if I didn't love Nike enough, they made Colin Kaepernick the face of their just-do-it campaign for the 30th anniversary? |
| 0:07.9 | Oh my God. |
| 0:09.9 | In 2018, Nike teamed up with the former NFL footballer Colin Kaepernick for an ad campaign. |
| 0:17.3 | If people say your dreams are crazy, if they laugh at what you think you can do, |
| 0:27.2 | good. Stay that way. The former US President Donald Trump said the campaign carried a terrible |
| 0:36.7 | message. |
| 0:42.1 | Videos of people burning Nike products were posted on social media. |
| 0:43.8 | But sales surged. |
| 0:48.3 | Nike stock rose and dream crazy won a creative arts Emmy. |
| 0:51.0 | So don't ask if your dreams are crazy. |
| 0:53.4 | Ask if they're crazy enough. |
| 0:57.0 | In this episode, we're going to meet Greg Hoffman, |
| 1:03.4 | the man behind one of the most successful and controversial advertising campaigns of recent times. I think there's a level of not only pride, but there's a level of being seen by communities, |
| 1:13.4 | seeing their struggle and their life come to life. |
| 1:17.9 | And that's incredibly powerful. |
| 1:20.1 | Find out where the idea came from, |
| 1:22.3 | why it worked and why Greg's own background was so crucial. |
| 1:29.1 | Very few people noticed the first time that Colin Kaepernick protested by not standing for the |
| 1:35.0 | American National Anthem in August 2016. In just a few short weeks, however, his refusal to |
| 1:42.7 | stand made national and international headlines. |
| 1:46.7 | Most athletes stay away from things like that, but Colin Kaepernick, a backup quarterback, is |
| 1:51.3 | driving this kind of discussion all around the world. And no matter how you feel about it, |
... |
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