According to what a source with “direct knowledge of Nike’s demographics,” told TMZ, the Oregon-based apparel company selected Colin Kaepernick as a spokesman because of its market research, not his political views.
The company tapped Kap for its “Just Do It’ campaign because African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians – who would theoretically be on board with Kaepernick’s social justice activism – are more strongly represented in Nike’s consumer base than they are in the overall U.S. population.
“Caucasians are under-represented in the Nike world,” according to TMZ. “The white population in the U.S. is 75% – but they comprise only 67% of Nike’s customers. And, of those, Nike believes a very large percentage, especially young whites, support Colin.”
Also, Nike buyers tend to be on the younger end of the spectrum (18 to 34-year-olds represent 43 percent of its customers) and are more likely to be Democrats than Republicans.
Essentially, all that data reflects that while a large segment of the population might not like Kaepernick’s involvement with the Nike campaign, those people weren’t going to be buying Nike products anyhow.
As TMZ puts it: “Short story … Nike made a big statement by its new Kaepernick ad campaign, but the people most likely to protest are outside the company’s sweet spot.”
Here’s the commercial which will air tonight and undoubtedly incite social media users on both sides of the Kaepernick controversy.
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