By Sam Reeves, Social Media Director/Webmaster
September not only kicked off this year’s NFL season, but also one of the biggest controversies of the year. During a commercial break on the first game of the season, Nike released their new advertisement in celebration of their 30th year of the “Just Do It” campaign. The ads featured former 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.
“Nike partnered up with Colin Kaepernick, and I know a lot of people are offended because they view Colin Kaepernick as some terrible person,” said Indian Trail High School & Academy General Studies senior Shania Kelly-Martin.
The student was not alone in this statement, as many others also identified the cause of the controversy to be just that: Kaepernick.
“A lot of people thought Kaepernick was disrespecting veterans and disrespecting America as a whole,” said Madeline Herbrechtsmeier, an Indian Trail Medical Sciences Academy junior.
Indeed, Kaepernick’s actions back in 2016 caused a huge political argument throughout the United States. Why? Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem.
“I don’t necessarily agree with the whole kneeling thing,” said Hannah Kachur, a Communications Academy junior. “I feel like it’s great if you wanna make a protest against racism, I think you should, but I also have a lot of respect for veterans.”
“The flag is a symbol, the anthem, the pledge, it’s a symbol of your respect for them (veterans), and they’ve risked everything and I feel like it’s just not respectful,” Kachur said.
Other students support Kaepernick and his choice of taking a stand on an important issue.
“I think what he did was brave, and if he didn’t do it, someone would’ve,” said Terri Burnett, a Business Academy sophomore at Indian Trail.
“I’m pro Nike, because I like their products, but also I think it’s important to draw attentions to the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Herbrechtsmeier.
However, the students also questioned whether or not it was wise to mix business with politics.
“I don’t think it’s the best thing, because it’s just bringing politics into a company that literally everyone wears,” said Kachur.
Bringing politics into business has never been a popular idea with the public. For example, the public was thrown into a miniature frenzy when the vice president of New Balance mentioned that he felt that President Trump would be more supportive of the company than the Obama administration had been.
“It doesn’t matter what a company does, somebody is always going to be mad about it,” said Savanah Joglar, an Indian Trail General Studies senior. “I know that people got really angry with each other (over the Nike ad), even people in my family were fighting over it.”
Despite all the controversy, some teens expressed confusion as to why some people chose to burn their Nike products. Several students commented it was a waste of time and resources, and only provided the company with free advertisement.
“I’m kind of mixed on it because I agree with what Kaepernick did, but I also understand why people would be angry with it. I don’t understand why people would burn their Nike stuff though. Nike already has their money,” said Joglar.
In the wake of the Kaepernick ad campaign, on Sept. 14, shares of Nike stock reached an all-time high of $83.49. On Oct. 10, press time, shares had dipped just below $75.