If there is any corporation we should be calling out at the moment, it is not a breast cancer foundation, but Nike. Over the past few months they have shown they do not care about the behavior of the athletes they represent. Not surprisingly both incidents regard women. Tiger Woods and Ben Roethlisberger continue to be supported by Nike. Perhaps with the Roethlisberger case, Nike looks even worse. After all, cheating on your wife is very different from sexual assault and rape. Interestingly, Nike dropped Michael Vick after he was convicted of dog fighting. Animal abuse is a terrible thing but may I be so bold as to say that abusing women is worse? Nike clearly does not care about its female consumers. Furthermore, there are many talented female athletes whom Nike chooses not to represent. I hope that women seriously consider these issues the next time they are thinking about buying a Nike product. I know I cannot support a brand that supports these men.
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I was talking to one of my friends who has interned with Nike's PR department teh past two summers about the recent behavior of their clients. When I asked why they continued to endorse Tiger, I was given the answer that have invested too much money into Tiger as a brand. Although I don't agree with that approach, I can understand where Nike is coming from in regards to Tiger.
ReplyDeleteI was completely shocked and disappointed that Nike continues to endorse Big Ben Roethlsiberger. He has proven himself to be a repeat sexual assult offender. What crime is it going to take on women for Nike to withdraw endorsements? Even the NFL has suspended Big Ben for tarnishing their image. Nike should be more worried about their appeal for women, because right now I do not want to buy any merchandise in which my money could be going to man who has sexually assualted others.
In Michael Phelps' case I believed that everyone makes mistakes, but in Roethlisberger's case his actions do not warrant any sympathy and his actions, more importantly, should be automatic grounds for taking an endorsement away. He is not an individual to look up to, and Nike, by supporting him, is telling people the exact opposite.