Anti-Americanism Is Working for Nike

As Scott noted just a few minutes ago, Nike has pulled a shoe that it was about to introduce which featured the “Betsy Ross flag,” circa 1776. Nike acted in response to a complaint by former athlete Colin Kaepernick, who found the shoe offensive. This, courtesy of InstaPundit, is the shoe:

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Nike Inc. is yanking a U.S.A.-themed sneaker featuring an early American flag after former NFL star-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick told the company it shouldn’t sell a shoe with a symbol that he and others consider offensive, according to people familiar with the matter.

The sneaker giant created the Air Max 1 USA in celebration of the July Fourth holiday, and it was slated to go on sale this week. The heel of the shoe featured a U.S. flag with 13 white stars in a circle, a design created during the American Revolution and commonly referred to as the Betsy Ross flag.

After shipping the shoes to retailers, Nike asked for them to be returned without explaining why, the people said. …

After images of the shoe were posted online, Mr. Kaepernick, a Nike endorser, reached out to company officials saying that he and others felt the Betsy Ross flag is an offensive symbol because of its connection to an era of slavery, the people said.

If the problem is association with slavery, then Kaepernick presumably would object to any American flag that predates 1865. But wait! The first thing we all learned about Kaepernick is that he detests today’s flag. So slavery has nothing to do with it; Kaepernick is simply anti-American. As is Nike, the company he now evidently runs.

“Get woke, go broke” is a popular slogan, but unfortunately, I have seen little evidence that companies that embrace social justice warrior ideology, even to the point of anti-Americanism, suffer economically. Nike’s sales rose after it released a stomach-turning, hagiographic “Just Do It” ad featuring Kaepernick. The Journal reports:

Since the [Kaepernick] ad was released, Nike has posted higher sales, boosted by strong demand in both the U.S. and China. In the fourth quarter, sales rose 4% to $10.18 billion. Its share price has climbed more than 15% so far this year.

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