Nike Customers Burning Their Products in Protest Over Colin Kaepernick Campaign

Overnight, social media filled with pictures and videos showing customers destroying their Nike [...]

By Michael Hein

Overnight, social media filled with pictures and videos showing customers destroying their Nike products after the company made Colin Kaepernick the face of their newest ad campaign.

Kaepernick was the de facto leader of last year's NFL protests, where players would kneel during the national anthem to draw attention to the epidemic of innocent African-Americans murdered by police. However, from the very start, many saw this as a generally anti-police sentiment, making Kaepernick an outcast and ultimately losing him his place in the league.

Now, those same infuriated customers feel that, by allowing Kaepernick to endorse their products, Nike has all but endorsed his protest in the process. The company is facing threats of a boycott, and conservative investors are dumping their stock in the company, but the really popular reaction is burning, cutting or otherwise destroying Nike products.

"First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country. I chose country," one person wrote. "Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive?"

His video of burning sneakers went viral, with users adding their own captions at his expense.

"Trump fans have to burn Nikes because they don't have any books," someone quipped.

Elsewhere, some people determined to continue wearing their Nike clothes without the logo. There were a string of posts showing shoes with the "swoosh" singed off, or socks cut off just below the symbol.

"Our Soundman just cut the Nike swoosh off his socks," tweeted John Rich. "Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by millions."

This, too, was roundly mocked online.

"Wearing 2/3 of a sock to own the libs," wrote one person wryly.

"CUT MY SOCKS INTO PIECES, THIS IS MY LAST RESORT," tweeted another.

Meanwhile, more serious recommendations included donating Nike gear rather than destroying it. As many people pointed out, a large portion of America's homeless population is made up of veterans, who could use the second hand clothing as summer comes to a close.

"If you really want to 'stick it to Nike' over this (which is silly, but you do you), go donate all your Nike gear. Get a tax deductible reciept," advised the NFL's Benjamin Allbright. "That way you at least get something out of it, instead of just lighting hundreds of dollars on fire."

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