Nike might have made one of the largest public relations goofs in some time after announcing a Law Enforcement Appreciation Day on Wednesday (May 13). Considering the deaths at the hands of police across the nation, the shoe and apparel company‘s decision to award those in law enforcement with a discount sparked outrage.
This is the second year the company has issued the Law Enforcement Appreciation Day Sale, which gave a 30% discount to officers at any Nike or Converse stores just by flashing their ID or badge. The event was worked in conjunction with National Police Week, where several nationwide celebrations of have been occurring.
The reaction to Nike’s cop appreciation sale on social media was swift, with outspoken activists and figures like activist Deray McKesson and writer dream hampton using Twitter as a platform to blast the event. McKesson noted in a tweet that 420 people have been killed by police officers in 2015, some of them unjustly according to most estimations. According to hampton, Nike has been involved in Law Enforcement Appreciation Week after the events of 9/11.
Twitter users erected the hashtags #DontDoIt and #BoyCottNike in response to the announcement. The names of Michael “Mike” Brown and Rekia Boyd were also used in hashtags as well.
Nike has not yet responded to the backlash.
[h/t Nice Kicks]
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Photo: Nike
