Response to its controversial ‘Just Do It’ ad
Mississippi Law Enforcement Agency has announced it will no longer be using Nike products in response to its controversial “Just Do It” ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick.
Mississippi’s public safety commissioner says that the department does not support vendors who don’t support law enforcement.
“As commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, I will not support vendors who do not support law enforcement and our military,” Commissioner Marshall Fisher told The Associated Press.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) also supported the move.
“I support the commissioner’s decision,” Bryant said, adding that the commissioner has the right to choose from which brands his department buys. “[A]nd it’s not going to be a company that pays an individual who has slandered our fine men and women in law enforcement,” he said.
Fisher slammed the decision on Twitter.
“These are the people that are representing all Mississippians,” the ACLU chapter’s Twitter account wrote. “These are the people that are creating a policy that impacts all of our lives. These are the people that took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Yet they refuse to understand what equality, justice, and accountability means. This petty decision is just another show of racism, discrimination, stupidity, inequity, and divisive politics.”
These are the people that are representing all Mississippians. These are the people that are creating policy that impact all of our lives. These are the people that took an oath to uphold the Constitution. (1/2) https://t.co/FYeXnfYorF
— ACLU of Mississippi (@ACLU_MS) September 15, 2018
Last week, share prices for Nike Inc plummeted after the sportswear brand used Colin Kaepernick for a controversial new ad campaign.
The company used an image of the football quarterback for a new “Just Do It” advertisement with a quote that read, “Belief in something.
Even if it means sacrificing everything.
”The ad prompted a huge backlash from American citizens, with the hashtag #BoyCottNike quickly going viral across social media.
The stock market reacted to the response to the campaign, with $3.75 billion quickly being wiped off Nike’s value as investors dumped their shares.