A billboard is now on top of Niketown at San Francisco’s Union Square, showing former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
On the billboard are the words, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” The billboard shows the ad used in the new Kaepernick campaign.
This comes after Kaepernick signed a new deal with Nike. Nike has touched off a storm of reaction by wading into football’s national anthem debate with the ad featuring Kaepernick.
In 2016, Kaepernick started the movement to kneel during the U.S. National Anthem to protest racial injustice. He opted out of his contract with the 49ers last year and has been unsigned since.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump criticized Nike’s decision to make Colin Kaepernick one of the faces of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign.
The president told The Daily Caller on Tuesday that Nike should not have chosen to feature the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback. Kaepernick started a movement of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness about police brutality against African-Americans and other racial injustices.
“I think it’s a terrible message and a message that shouldn’t be sent,” Trump said of Nike’s new campaign. “There’s no reason for it.”
And the NFL issued a statement on Tuesday, praising Kaepernick for raising awareness on the issue of social justice.
“The National Football League believes in dialogue, understanding and unity,” said Jocelyn Moore, who is the league’s executive vice president of communications and public affairs (via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Twitter). “We embrace the role and responsibility of everyone involved with this game to promote meaningful, positive change in our communities. The social justice issues that Colin and other professional athletes have raised deserve our attention and action.”
Meanwhile, Nike stock took a tumble on Tuesday by 2 percent.
Social media also lit up with videos of people burning or otherwise destroying Nike merchandise.
The National Association of Police Organizations says the Nike move, “grossly insults the men and women who really do make sacrifices for the sake of our nation.”
KRON4’s J.R. Stone will have a full report on KRON4 News at 9 p.m.
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