If you needed another excuse to raise an eyebrow at Nike’s involvement in skateboarding, here it is. Nike, a large corporation with lots of expensive lawyers, you know, the kind you assume would know what they should and shouldn’t do, apparently weren’t consulted before Nike released their latest advertising campaign for their line of skateboarding related shoes.
Below we have an album cover from the band Minor Threat on the left, and on the right we have an image from Nike’s latest ad campaign.
The cover of the Minor Threat album has come to represent in many ways the punk rock movement of the 80s, and by association the skateboarding movement. Tom Knox once used a likeness of the image on his pro deck, but with permission from Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye, who is also the frontman of Fugazi.
In some sort of ill-begotten attempt to curry favor with skateboarders and show them that “Nike is keepin’ it real and hardcore!” Nike has blatantly ripped off the cover of the album.
There are two reasons why I think this is a bad move, and I would say this whether or not I liked Nike being involved in skateboarding. The first mistake for Nike was not getting legal permission. The second is simply bad marketing.
Even if this is a rather stupid marketing move on Nike’s part since it’s a completely see-through attempt to connect with hardcore youth who would never wear Nikes (at least not the Nikes made for skateboarding, ironically), at least Nike got permission, right? I mean, that’s what they have lawyers for, right? Ha, not quite.
We spoke to a representative from Dischord Records, Minor Threat’s label, if Nike had asked to borrow these images. They said the following: “No, they stole it and we’re not happy about it. Nike is a giant corporation which is attempting to manipulate the alternative skate culture to create an even wider demand for their already ubiquitous brand. Nike represents just about the antithesis of what Dischord stands for and it makes me sick to my stomach to think they are using this explicit imagery to fool kids into thinking that the general ethos of this label, and Minor Threat in particular, can somehow be linked to Nike’s mission. It’s disgusting.”
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If you want to see it for yourself, go to http://www.nike.com/nikeskateboarding/, click on “English”, and click on the “Major Threat” graphic in the center bottom. This will probably be removed soon.
But regardless of whether it’s legal or ethical, is it good marketing? Who are they trying to attract with this campaign? People who know who Minor Threat is wouldn’t wear Nikes for skating in the first place, probably opting for Vans (which in my opinion is a sellout company that should also be avoided by skateboarders). So the campaign probably isn’t going to work on people who would recognize the artwork. Which then begs the question of why Nike would use the artwork at all.
Once again, I don’t have anything against Nike. I think they make fine shoes for running, basketball, and other mainstream sports. Their skating shoes are probably pretty good shoes as well when it comes to quality. But selling shoes in the skateboard world is about more than making a good shoe, it’s also about the image of the company, and Nike will never be able to match what real skateboard shoe companies have done, because Nike is not a real skateboard shoe company. They can’t market themselves as being owned or run by skaters and that’s their biggest flaw and that’s why I won’t buy Nikes. I don’t hate them, but I would rather support companies owned and/or run by skaters like DC, eS, Emerica, Etnies, DVS, and Lakai. These companies were started not just to make money, but because the owners loved skateboarding. Sure, if they make a lot of money that’s great, but it’s not the only reason they’re involved. When skateboarding slows down and isn’t as profitable Nike will dump PRod and all the other guys who have signed on. That’s just the way the business world on Nike’s level works. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but all of us skaters don’t have to buy into it and support companies that are taking business away from the guys who have made skateboarding what it is today.
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Looks like some people have an opinion on the matter:
http://skateboardrumors.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=1444&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Here are some more of my own comments on this, now that I’ve thought about it some more and read some other people’s ideas.
When you do a parody for an ad campaign, the success of the parody depends on people understanding that it is a parody.
In this case, anyone who knows who Minor Threat is will be turned off by what Nike has done here. So the campaign fails on that point. And of course most young skaters these days have no idea who Minor Threat is, so why bother doing the parody? Imagine the Minor Threat album cover were erased from the public consciousness…would this marketing campaign have any merits on it’s own? It doesn’t make any sense unless you know it’s a parody, and if you know it’s a parody you most likely are only going to be more disgusted with Nike, so the whole thing makes no sense.
I’m wearing some new DVS Kingstons today. They’re comfy and all my co-workers say I look quite striking in them.
http://www.punknews.org/article.php?sid=12991&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Nike apologized.
Yup, they sure did.
http://www.nike.com/nikeskateboarding/v2/letter/index.html
Just in case it moves, I saved a local copy of it. View Nike apology letter.
you guys have completely missed the point. nike is parodying minor threat. as my pals over at liberteaser.com write, “These days we’re used to seeing clever satires of corporate logos from the likes of Adbusters, Indie Rock Bands, or even Skater T-shirts that turn ‘Dunkin’ Donuts’ into ‘@^@##$’ Go Nuts’”.
so what is wrong with the corporation turning the tables on its critics and using their own strategy against them? thanks in advance for providing a coherent answer.
Good for MacKaye! Nike deserves to be spanked hard for this one. How stupid can they be. As a longtime fan of Minor Threat, as well as a micro radio broadcaster, and media literacy teacher in a high school in San Francisco, I truly wish to encourage Dischord and MacKaye in their lawsuit.
Hey, you guys are a bunch of whiners, you can check out my take at my blog Liberteaser
Another take on things:
http://www.tinypineapple.com/chris/archives/minor_threat_vs_major_threat.html
This is wack Nike is tight and the logos look similar but not identical its just like those starbucks commercials useing those songs and putting peoples names in them… If i was Minor Threat i would be appreciative of a big time shoe company giving them some publicity because when u see this it would remind you of them
why do people make such a big deal over this $%@#. i dont understand. %$@# they used something similar, who cares.its all #%#@%
It’s interesting that those people who post comments criticizing Nike tend to write in complete sentences, and use capital letters and punctuation sensibly, while those posters who defend Nike seem to not have mastered the basics of spelling, grammar, punctuation or the use of the shift key.
hey this is tom knox. i used an image similar to minor threats first seven inch cover as a graphic. first of all i recieved permission from ian mackaye himself backstage at a fugazi show at the country club in reseda in 1990. second of all minor threat influenced my whole life style as a straight edge skater. %$#@ nike and any other corporate shoe company that has no roots in skating or punk. personally i ride deklines, a very skate shoe company. all i can say is that i hope dischord reaps some reward from this $%#$.
I’m kind of doubting that last post is really Tom Knox, but we’ll let it stand.
Minor Threat broke up in the first place, to be free of corporations. They are one of the only one’s who stayed INDY. Screw Nike. MT does not need NIKE to be righteous
NIKE’s so cool.
“If i was Minor Threat i would be appreciative of a big time shoe company giving them some publicity because when u see this it would remind you of them” im sorry sir but you are an idiot.
i did post that about nike. it really is me. go to http://www.myspace.com/cactiwidders or http://www.fallen-angel-records.com for more info
Nike sucks so much that influenced dvs now and bouth suck more than each one alone. dvs is same corporate stuff, for surfers and nike is for jocks. Knox, you rule
nike and other companies like them, no matter how hard they try, can ruin skateboarding with their XTREMESUPERAWESOMECOMPETITIONS, it’s companies like them that ruin the face of skateboarding.
you are a bunch of clowns, most if not all companies are owned by coorporations. people start companies to make money and do something they like in life, so if skating have been around for 30 yrs wouldn’t it make sense for people who are in the working class who happen to work in companies like Nike and who happen to love skateboarding try to do something positive for the sport? it only helps to elevate the sport, anyone who disses the idea is only hating on the fact that skating has become more mainstream, and not an underground sport thus making it uncool. why don’t you guys just do some drugs, thats cool!!!
positive? are u kidding me, it’s f—ing nike, and it doesn’t help it at all. Nike doesn’t “love” skateboarding except for the skateboarders on the team, the rest of them would “love” to get their hands on the green, then kick pros off the team and hire more to sell out, it’s what every corparate business is about buying and selling, they don’t care for skateboarding. they use it as an ad. that’s why once again skateboarding was best in the underground, i bet u would like to skate for some team wearing spandex and headbands.
Hey thats actually my uncle Paul Kershaw on that album cover, and he has no problem with anything like that, i personnaly think it should be respected and shared. its Punk Rock, Punks Not Dead.
also, haha i think its kinda funny they got the nike version of him in a pair of nikes and his pants arent even cuffed, but i gotta be honest he was wearing old cruddy comabt boots like i got, and he was way to messed up to be getting a picture taken, haha. im sure it was a spur of the moment thing, my uncle was going through a tough time with drugs during the time of that photo, Ian definetly captured that from what i see.
Not a smart move on Nike’s part.
From Nike’s stance, they’re just trying to market their product, but they didn’t really think of the repercussions. Also, you’d think that such a major corporation would have had the foresight to try and make sure that this was alright with the other party, BEFORE running the ad. Nike and their supporters alike don’t quite understand why this is such a problem for Minor Threat, Dischord and their supporters. Nike is trying to make money and sell their product through this ad. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with Nike’s desire to market their product, there is something wrong with this marketing ad, in particular. Nike is out to sell shoes and make money, and again, there’s nothing wrong with that, plenty of people like Nike’s shoes. However, not everything in the world is about money. Minor Threat is not about money, Dischord is not about money, and Minor Threat fans are not about money (generally). To be honest, as a Minor Threat fan, this ad really pissed me off. Nike’s corporate agenda is the complete opposite of Minor Threat and Dischord’s DIY ethics. I don’t think that Nike and their supporters will never really understand why this is such a problem, because they’re used to the mainstream world, where everything is about exposure and how much money you can make. But, at least the ad was abandoned and destroyed.
Oh, and for that kid claiming that his uncle is on the cover of the Minor Threat album:
The person on the cover of the Minor Threat album is Ian Makaye’s little brother, Alec.
Look it up.
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