Nike Takes a Stance 

In today’s world, we show our support on issues through where we spend our money, and with that, corporations can’t just sit on the sidelines anymore. Today’s blog post will be a PR review of how Nike has approached corporate social responsibility (CSR). Nike has recently taken a hard stand on social issues with its bold campaigns. These approaches have both brought praise and scrutiny, making Nike a great PR case to study for today.

Nike Takes a Knee

First, we will review Nike’s support of Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled during the national anthem in 2018. He kneels in protest against police brutality, and Nike features that image in their “Just Do It” campaign. This action put Nike in the middle of a huge national debate. This created boycotts against the company while also creating supporters who rallied around the message. Overall, this message against police brutality gained a lot of intended attention and came with the bounce of spiking sales. This was an overall PR success, and this action gained a whole new wave of loyal younger customers who cared about what their companies were supporting. This move also aligned Nike with BLM, which helped show their stance on being progressive.

Back-Up What You Say

Another significant move by Nike was a follow-up to George Floyd’s death in 2020. Nike created a video titled “For Once, Don’t Do It,” calling its customers and viewers to reject racism. They didn’t just leave their support in words. Still, they committed $40 million to Black communities, giving significant weight to back their actions. This move was widely praised by the media and the press. This is viewed as one of Nike’s better moves in CSR due to them financially backing the message they are pushing.

Practice What You Preach

It wasn’t sometimes easy wins for Nike, though. Even though Nike campaigns for social justice proudly in the U.S., they face major criticism for the labor practices they use to make their merchandise. The claims consist of poor working conditions in their China and Vietnam factories. This creates inconsistencies with their progressive messaging back home, questioning whether Nike is genuinely committed to CSR. Many criticize Nike for not following through on its social justice stance and saying it should extend its ethics to not just the U.S. borders.

Act on The Criticism

Nike’s CSR journey has been a great example of the good and bad moves in brand activism. We see Nike support some great causes and actually support them financially, which in return brings in customers. Then we see them not practice the same care in other countries with how they treat their foreign factories. With consumers, consistency is very important, and customers expect brands to “Just Do It” and not just talk the talk.