Nike’s decision to feature Colin Kaepernick in its newest “Just Do It” ad campaign has drawn its share of praise and detractors.
You can count Donald Trump Jr. in the latter camp. The son of the president of the United States posted a photo to Instagram that put his father in Kaepernick’s place on Wednesday.
The post came two days after Nike announced that the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback would star in its ads, marking 30 years of the “Just Do It” slogan.
Nike has backed its decision passionately, saying that Kaepernick is “one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation” after he began kneeling for the U.S. anthem in protest of mistreatment of black people and minorities in the United States.
The NFL has also supported Nike’s decision.
Coverage of Colin Kaepernick on Globalnews.ca:
But the company has drawn far less support in other quarters.
President Trump had this to say:
And other people burned their Nike shoes in protest.
As reaction to the ads continued to pour in on Wednesday, Nike released a two-minute video that featured athletes including Kaepernick and Canadian soccer star Alphonso Davies.
The video showed athletes working to realize their dreams.
“Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy, ask if they’re crazy enough,” Kaepernick said in the ad.
Meanwhile, Kaepernick has filed a grievance against the NFL alleging that teams colluded to keep him out of the league.
An arbitrator has permitted his case to move forward into a courtroom.
- With files from Adam Frisk