Nike shares are sliding to kick off the holiday-shortened trading week.
After making disgraced NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of the iconic brand, there was an inevitable backlash, causing fans to burn their Nike products or partake in #BoycottNike.
Here is the ad:
This is so ignorant… If you want to hurt Nike, sell their shoes in the secondary market and push down the price. https://t.co/5RYDmpLVh8
— Robert P. Murphy (@BobMurphyEcon) September 4, 2018
As a result, Nike shares tumbled $2.21, or 2.69%, to $79.99 per share at 10:53 a.m. on Tuesday.
If you don’t remember, Kaepernick started a kneeling protest in 2016 and told the press:
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
The boycotts are getting ridiculous. Everyone and everything is the target of a boycott for simply having a difference of opinion.
But the boycott of Nike is strange because the company is still making money. You buy a $250 pair of shoes and then you burn it. So what? It still received a nice chunk of change.
Economist Robert Murphy made an excellent point on Twitter on how you can really hurt Nike:
This is so ignorant… If you want to hurt Nike, sell their shoes in the secondary market and push down the price. https://t.co/5RYDmpLVh8
— Robert P. Murphy (@BobMurphyEcon) September 4, 2018
The NFL season is on the horizon, so you can definitely expect even more controversy than last year.
And a lot more Trump tweeting!
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