tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/nike-2355/articlesNike – The Conversation2023-08-15T19:48:20Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2080912023-08-15T19:48:20Z2023-08-15T19:48:20ZOnline outrage can benefit brands that take stances on social issues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539078/original/file-20230724-14742-flc4a2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C17%2C2982%2C2061&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A large billboard featuring Colin Kaepernick stands on top of a Nike store at Union Square in San Francisco.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/online-outrage-can-benefit-brands-that-take-stances-on-social-issues" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Nike’s advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick sparked a social media firestorm in 2018. Kaepernick, a former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, first made headlines in 2016 when he <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/06/01/colin-kaepernick-kneeling-history/">protested against police brutality by kneeling during the American national anthem</a>.</p>
<p>Those who deemed Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the anthem as unpatriotic expressed a great deal of outrage and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nike-kaepernick-idUSKCN1LK1DK">called for a Nike boycott</a>. Despite initial concerns about the financial impact of Nike’s decision, the advertisement <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/24/17895704/nike-colin-kaepernick-boycott-6-billion">proved successful for the company</a> — Nike earned $6 billion from the campaign.</p>
<p>One explanation for this success is that existing Nike customers rallied behind the brand, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/09/13/colin-kaepernicks-nike-ad-campaign-gets-more-yeahs-than-nays-from-young-people/">outnumbering those who were outraged</a>. But social media conversations at the time suggested there was an alternative phenomenon taking place. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nikes-courageous-new-ad-campaign-mixing-racial-politics-with-sport-will-be-vindicated-102707">Nike's courageous new ad campaign mixing racial politics with sport will be vindicated</a>
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<p>Some people expressed support for Nike in response to the outrage but not because they were already loyal customers of the brand. This suggests people who shared Kaepernick’s concerns were motivated by online outrage to support Nike as a way of symbolically defending or supporting their beliefs about racial equity and police brutality. </p>
<p>After seeing this example and noticing more brands were taking stances on social issues through marketing campaigns, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1364">we decided to embark on a research project</a>. Our aim was to examine whether brands that take such stances benefit from the ensuing outrage from opposing consumer groups.</p>
<h2>Positive outrage</h2>
<p>We conducted five studies using real examples of brands that took stances on social issues and faced online backlash. Participants were presented a tweet that either expressed outrage or disapproval towards the brand’s social message. We then measured how connected participants felt to the attacked brand and what their intentions to make a purchase from that brand were.</p>
<p>Across all five studies, we found that participants who shared the brand’s promoted values felt more closely connected to it and were more willing to buy its products when they saw an outraged tweet. This was true for the brand that was specifically attacked, but also for other brands with similar social values.</p>
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<img alt="A collage of tweets by people condemning Nike's advertising campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538809/original/file-20230722-41771-xyjt9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Nike’s 2018 advertisement featuring Colin Kaepernick sparked backlash on social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Twitter)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The underlying psychological reason for this positive outrage effect was that participants perceived the outrage as a threat to their personal social values.</p>
<p>This is consistent with existing theories that suggest public expressions of outrage can <a href="https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/dgt6u">be seen as a threat to people’s beliefs and values</a>. In response to such threats, individuals respond by engaging in symbolic acts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00135-9">to defend the threatened value</a>.</p>
<p>Importantly, this feeling of threat and the subsequent positive brand consequences occurred under a certain set of conditions. Namely, the positive outcome occurred when the outrage was expressed by a member of a group with opposing values, such as political opponents, or when the outrage had online viral support.</p>
<h2>Managerial implications</h2>
<p>From a managerial perspective, brands have been hesitant to take sides on <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/02/how-do-consumers-feel-when-companies-get-political">contentious social issues</a>, partly because of the risks associated with triggering online outrage. However, consumers are increasingly expecting companies <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/10/when-should-your-company-speak-up-about-a-social-issue">to speak out on social issues that are important to them</a>. </p>
<p>Our research offers optimism, as it indicates outrage can benefit brands by bolstering support from those who share the promoted values. These are the customers companies should be trying to reach in such marketing activities. </p>
<p>But a word of caution: brands need to be mindful of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022243720947682">risks of alienating consumers that hold opposing views</a> about the social issue in question, particularly when a brand’s customer base holds diverse social values. Brands can <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/bud-light-sales-dropped-21-4-percent-in-april">risk driving away customers and losing profit</a> when they take a stance on social issues.</p>
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<img alt="A case of Bud Light beer bottles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540874/original/file-20230802-6332-5a9zc3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">After Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, promoted Bud Light on Instagram, a group of consumers called for a boycott of the brand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)</span></span>
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<p>This underscores the importance of ensuring that such social marketing campaigns are aligned with the existing values of a brand’s core customer base. By doing so, brands can navigate the potential risks of alienation while maximizing the potential benefits of generating outrage.</p>
<h2>Societal implications</h2>
<p>As influencial figures, brands have the power to incite social change by taking stances on social issues. To bring about change, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/12/10/colin-kaepernick-partners-with-ben--jerrys-on-namesake-vegan-frozen-dessert/">ideas must spread and gain enough support among the population</a>. </p>
<p>Brands can play a significant role in helping this happen by uniting people and organizations around social issues through marketing campaigns.</p>
<p>While outrage from opposed groups can benefit brands, it’s possible that deliberately courting such controversy may also negatively impact society. One concern that has been raised is that this kind of marketing can <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/companies-increasingly-politics-marketing-risks-experts/story?id=88238066">increase the risk of political polarization</a>. </p>
<p>Polarization has the potential to lead to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-parallel-economy-the-rightwing-movement-creating-a-safe-haven-for-deplatformed-conservative-influencers-201999">rise of parallel economies</a>: one for conservatives and another for liberals. The growing trend of companies positioning themselves as “anti-woke” in the United States is an example of this unfolding.</p>
<p>However, more research is still needed to fully grasp the positive and negative effects of these marketing activities on society. To gain a better understanding of this topic, for example, it would be valuable to study how consumer backlash impacts other entities like company employees, policymakers and investors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Raymond Darke receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Theo Noseworthy receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saeid Kermani does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Brands are increasingly taking stances on contentious social issues and facing mass outrage on social media. New research shows that this outrage can benefit brands.Saeid Kermani, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Trent UniversityPeter Darke, Professor of Marketing, York University, CanadaTheo Noseworthy, Professor of Marketing, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027062023-08-03T12:25:29Z2023-08-03T12:25:29ZMany global corporations will soon have to police up and down their supply chains as EU human rights ‘due diligence’ law nears enactment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538609/original/file-20230720-27-c0f2jp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=130%2C142%2C7809%2C5154&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Forced and child labor has been reported in mines in the Congo, which produces over 70% of the world's cobalt. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/artisanal-miners-carry-sacks-of-ore-at-the-shabara-news-photo/1244417469">Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The European Union <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/eu-lawmakers-back-human-rights-environmental-checks-big-companies-2023-04-25/">will soon require thousands of large companies</a> to actively look for and reduce human rights abuses and environmental damage in their supply chains. And although it’s an EU law, it will also cover foreign businesses – including American ones – that have operations in the region.</p>
<p>The European Parliament <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0209_EN.html">approved a draft of the new rules in June 2023</a>, and now EU member states and the European Commission will negotiate to finalize the law, which is expected to begin rolling out in phases a few years from now. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.business.uconn.edu/person/rachel-chambers/">We study</a> the <a href="https://peoplefinder.lsbu.ac.uk/researcher/8xxx0/dr-david-birchall">impacts of human rights</a> disclosure and due diligence laws on businesses. In the past, governments have generally asked only that companies voluntarily comply with efforts to advance human rights. The EU law would be the biggest attempt yet to legally mandate compliance – with major implications for human rights and businesses around the world. </p>
<h2>Human rights and big business</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/what-are-human-rights">Human rights are those fundamental rights</a> that all individuals hold simply by virtue of being human, such as rights to life and freedom of thought.</p>
<p>Human rights usually inform laws that limit what governments can do – for example, by obliging them to refrain from torturing people. Increasingly, however, <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/business-and-human-rights-requirements-are-rise-2023">they are also informing business regulations</a>, because powerful companies can have serious impacts on individuals’ human rights. </p>
<p>Businesses have a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Business-and-Human-Rights-History-Law-and-Policy---Bridging-the-Accountability/Bernaz/p/book/9781138683006">long history of human rights abuses</a>, from the British East India Co.’s pivotal role in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/taboo-the-east-india-company-and-the-true-horrors-of-empire-73616">slave trade</a> and IBM’s complicity in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/mar/29/humanities.highereducation">the Holocaust</a> to more recent deadly environmental disasters involving <a href="https://www.leighday.co.uk/latest-updates/news/2021-news/legal-claim-by-more-than-2-500-zambian-villagers-in-a-case-against-vedanta-resources-limited/">oil and mining companies</a>.</p>
<p>More contemporary examples of this are <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara">children in the Democratic Republic of Congo mining cobalt</a> destined for cellphones or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/business/cotton-xinjiang-forced-labor-retailers.html">forced labor being used in the production of cotton</a> in China’s heavily Muslim Xinjiang region.</p>
<p>In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council took a step toward policing these abuses by unanimously adopting “guiding principles” on business and human rights. These principles <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf">urge governments to compel</a> companies in their jurisdictions to respect human rights wherever they operate. Such an approach stands in contrast to more common voluntary standards, such as <a href="https://ecovadis.com/glossary/supplier-code-conduct/#:%7E:text=What%20is%20a%20Supplier%20code,of%20employees%2C%20and%20ethical%20practices.">supplier codes of conduct</a>, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-apparel-brands-efforts-to-police-their-supply-chains-arent-working-136821">some observers have suggested have been ineffective</a>. </p>
<p>In 2017, France <a href="https://www.dlapiper.com/en/insights/publications/2021/03/human-rights-due-diligence-legislation-in-europe#">became the first country</a> to actually mandate that companies police their supply chains for human rights abuses. </p>
<p>The EU’s human rights due diligence law, <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1145">first drafted in 2022</a>, builds on the French version – but goes a few steps further. </p>
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<img alt="protesters march in streets holding signs in front of apple logo on a building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/539098/original/file-20230724-21-tniwth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Apple is among the U.S.-based companies that would likely have to comply with the EU rules.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/hongkongers-tibetans-uyghur-muslims-and-their-supporters-news-photo/1245513825">Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Doing your due diligence</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-business/corporate-human-rights-due-diligence-identifying-and-leveraging-emerging-practices">Human rights due diligence</a> is a process by which companies are meant to map out, understand and address all potential human rights abuses that occur throughout their operations. </p>
<p>The term “<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/duediligence.asp">due diligence</a>” is borrowed from the common business practice of financial due diligence, wherein financial risks are investigated before any large investment. So just as businesses evaluate financial risks, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Business/ExecutiveSummaryA73163.pdf">human rights advocates argue</a> companies should put similar effort into investigating the risk that an activity might violate someone’s human rights.</p>
<p>The EU law would mandate that all large companies that operate in the bloc conduct human rights due diligence among their suppliers – by, for example, making sure child or forced labor wasn’t involved – but also on how their products are used by consumers – such as when a piece of technology is used to surveil citizens. </p>
<p>The law would cover most human rights, including labor rights and environmental rights, past or present. In practice, that would mean companies would have to map any harmful impacts that have occurred or could occur and take action to remedy or prevent them.</p>
<p>The rules would also include provisions for enforcement and penalties for noncompliance through fines and other sanctions. And victims of abuse would be able to seek damages.</p>
<p>In its current form, the law would cover EU companies with at least 500 workers and 150 million euros US$162 million) in net revenue, but those thresholds fall to 250 workers and 40 million euros ($44.5 million) in sectors with a higher risk of abuse, such as clothing, footwear and agriculture. Non-European companies must comply if they have EU revenues that meet those thresholds. An estimated 13,000 EU companies and 4,000 based outside of Europe – including household names like Apple, Amazon and Nike – <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/european-union-releases-draft-mandatory-human-rights-and-environmental-due-diligence">would be subject to the law</a>. </p>
<p>If it works as intended, the EU law <a href="http://corporatejustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/asi_eccj_report_final.pdf">could be transformative</a> in protecting human rights, including worker health and safety and workers’ free speech, around the world. According to a recent report by human rights scholars, it could be “<a href="https://media.business-humanrights.org/media/documents/TraffLabReport_March23.pdf">particularly valuable</a> in the context of transnational supply chains, where the fragmented nature of production has long presented formidable legal and practical barriers to efforts to secure greater corporate accountability for labor rights violations and poor working conditions.”</p>
<h2>Bad for business?</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.ioe-emp.org/fileadmin/ioe_documents/publications/Policy%20Areas/business_and_human_rights/EN/_2015-03-16__Economist_Intelligence_Unit_Report_-_Today_s_Challenges_for_Business_in_Respecting_Human_Rights.pdf">many companies</a> <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/big-issues/mandatory-due-diligence/companies-investors-in-support-of-mhrdd/">have already endorsed mandatory due diligence</a> rules, others worry this kind of government mandate <a href="http://corporatejustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/debating-mhrdd-legislation-a-reality-check.pdf">would be too onerous</a>.</p>
<p>A full map of risks in a company’s value chain – from raw materials to consumers – is difficult to establish when suppliers are separate companies operating on the other side of the world and global supply chains are frequently large and complex. </p>
<p>Some companies also <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-416_i4dj.pdf">strongly resist</a> the idea of being held responsible for human rights violations that take place in their supply chains overseas. </p>
<h2>Ripe for US rules</h2>
<p>For this reason, the U.S. <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/nyujolbu18&div=17&id=&page=">has so far preferred voluntary rules</a> when it comes to pushing companies to respect human rights. </p>
<p>But that’s slowly beginning to change.</p>
<p>In 2012, California implemented the <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/SB657">Supply Chain Transparency Act</a>, which requires companies operating in the state to disclose their “efforts to eradicate human trafficking and slavery” in their global supply chains. And in 2021, Congress passed the <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/trade/forced-labor/UFLPA">Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act</a>, which bans the importation of goods mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China – home of the Uyghur people, who have been <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/whats-happened-to-chinas-uyghur-camps-12881984">subjected to an intense program of state suppression since 2017</a>. </p>
<p>Between these rules there is a clear trend developing of an increasing number of U.S. companies being obligated to implement some form of human rights due diligence. But these rules, unlike the developing European approach, are very narrowly tailored and don’t require companies to routinely undertake due diligence.</p>
<p>As a result, the U.S. companies that would be subject to the EU rules would be at a competitive disadvantage to many of their domestic rivals. </p>
<p>That’s why we believe the time may be ripe for Congress to consider its own more comprehensive human rights due diligence law, which would let the U.S. take the lead on the issue and have more of a say in these global standards. We believe that such a move would also be a major boon to protecting the human rights of marginalized groups across the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Chambers and David Birchall received a small grant from Universitas 21 for the research project that this article forms part of.</span></em></p>A new EU law would require thousands of multinational companies, including many based in the US, to look for signs of human rights abuses in their supply chains.Rachel Chambers, Assistant Professor of Business Law, University of ConnecticutDavid Birchall, Senior Lecturer in Law, London South Bank UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100472023-07-20T22:13:45Z2023-07-20T22:13:45ZWhat the end of Nike’s sponsorship means for Hockey Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538611/original/file-20230720-19-329n1c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C35%2C3982%2C2934&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nike has made it clear that its support of Hockey Canada is contingent on the organization behaving in a transparent and accountable manner.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-the-end-of-nikes-sponsorship-means-for-hockey-canada" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nike-permanently-ends-hockey-canada-support-1.6909029">Nike has officially ended its partnership with Hockey Canada</a> in the wake of <a href="https://theconversation.com/fixing-the-problems-at-hockey-canada-will-be-difficult-without-leadership-changes-187751">the organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations</a> involving members of the 2018 men’s world junior team.</p>
<p>Nike originally <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9185115/nike-suspends-hockey-canada-partnership-scandal/">paused the relationship in October 2022</a>, but now has permanently ceased it after nearly 25 years of working with Hockey Canada. It joins a host of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/10/11/a-list-of-major-corporate-sponsors-that-have-pulled-support-for-hockey-canada.html">other sponsors that have also paused their support for Hockey Canada</a>, including Telus, Tim Hortons, Bauer Hockey, Canadian Tire, Scotiabank, Esso and Sobeys.</p>
<p>The relationships between sports organizations and their sponsors are incredibly fragile. They exist only so long as the sponsor sees tangible benefits in the relationship or as long as the sponsor’s money is not seen as a liability for the sports organization. </p>
<p>In the case of Nike and Hockey Canada, both of these reasons have failed. The unique relationship between the two parties has additional complexities that make the end of this sponsorship especially notable. </p>
<h2>A mutually beneficial departure?</h2>
<p>Even though Nike is the one that ended its partnership with Hockey Canada, the decision could be a positive development for both parties. In particular, it could end up benefiting Hockey Canada’s public image.</p>
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-hockey-canada-sexual-assault-allegations-3/">the <em>Globe and Mail</em> reported that a Nike Canada employee bought alcohol for Hockey Canada players</a> prior to the alleged sexual assault in 2018.</p>
<p>This alleged connection Nike has to the sexual assault scandal makes a relationship with them a liability for Hockey Canada <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2023/04/19/the-funding-is-back-but-can-public-trust-in-hockey-canada-be-restored.html">as they seek to demonstrate they are committed to good governance and transparency</a> moving forward. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A blurred document with the Hockey Canada logo visible in the upper left hand corner" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Hockey Canada document is reviewed by a member of Parliament during a House of Commons committee on Canadian Heritage looking into safe sport in Canada on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in October 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
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<p>In addition, Nike Canada is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nike-dynasty-gold-uyghurs-canada-1.6903013">currently under investigation for the potential use of forced Uyghur labour in China</a>. The allegation is that Nike Canada is the main customer of a factory that employs Uyghur workers that attend evening classes for “vocational training” and “patriotic education” purposes.</p>
<p>Lastly, both parties are likely to be subjected to a wave of renewed scrutiny once the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/nhls-investigation-into-alleged-hockey-canada-sexual-assault-closer-to-the-end/">National Hockey League’s investigation into the sexual assault scandal</a> draws to a close. The opportunity for both parties to no longer be associated with one another could work in either’s favour.</p>
<h2>Nike’s foray into hockey</h2>
<p>Nike’s relationship with the sport of hockey itself is complex. Nike was previously listed as one of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210303051824/https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/corporate/partnerships/partners/premier">Hockey Canada’s premier marketing partners</a>, which play “a vital role in the participation and activations at Hockey Canada’s national events, and in creating best-in-class fan experiences at key international events.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man wears a hockey uniform in front of a red wall blazoned with Nike and Hockey Canada logos" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">National Hockey League player Simon Gagné wears the new Nike-designed hockey jersey and socks unveiled by Hockey Canada in Kelowna, British Columbia in 2005.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CP PHOTO/Jeff Bassett)</span></span>
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<p>The Nike swoosh <a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/1999/home">has been a staple of the Team Canada uniform since 1999</a>. Nike has been the official uniform supplier for the Olympic Games, World Junior Championships, Men’s and Women’s World Championships and World Cups throughout the course of their relationship.</p>
<p>Additionally, Nike ventured beyond uniform production into the business of hockey equipment at the end of the last century. In 1994, <a href="https://macleans.ca/economy/business/what-all-the-nhl-ers-are-wearing/">Nike purchased Canadian hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer for $395 million</a> and began its aggressive expansion into the hockey landscape.</p>
<p>However, Nike’s hockey equipment venture was largely unsuccessful and Bauer was sold to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/business/22nike.html">investment firms Kohlberg and Co. and Roustan Inc. for $200 million in 2008</a>. </p>
<p>For this reason, Nike’s decision to end their partnership with Hockey Canada could be reflective of their broader strategy to leave the hockey marketplace, as much as an ethical statement on the organization or its current state. </p>
<h2>Hockey Canada’s future</h2>
<p>While the impact of this decision appears to have grave short-term financial consequences for Hockey Canada, it’s important to consider the scale of Hockey Canada’s cash reserves. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hockey-canada-federal-funding-1.6493025">Hockey Canada had nearly $25 million in cash at the end of June 2021</a>, $41.5 million in bonds and $77 million in equities across three trust and endowment funds. The total value of its assets increased by $20 million from 2020.</p>
<p>Certainly, their financial picture is not as rosy as it once was, given massive legal expenditures incurred over the past 24 months. However, the numbers from Hockey Canada have so far indicated that bankruptcy will not be imminent following Nike’s decision. </p>
<p>The organization will likely be able to find a replacement sponsor, as plenty of companies are eager to align themselves with the organization. In fact, <a href="https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1681042524650217472?s=20">according to sports journalist Rick Westhead</a>, Fanatics, a licensed sports merchandise company owned by American businessman Michael Rubin, could be a potential replacement.</p>
<p>Hockey Canada will be able to rebuild, including securing a new sponsor, introducing new jerseys and electing new leadership, but it still faces difficult obstacles in regaining public trust.</p>
<p>Is Hockey Canada truly committed to transparency, accountability and further regulatory oversight? The answer to this question will not only dictate the nature of future relationships between Hockey Canada and its sponsors or donors, but the connection felt between Canadians and their national teams.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor McKee receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada </span></em></p>The unique relationship between Nike and Hockey Canada makes the end of their decades-long sponsorship especially notable.Taylor McKee, Assistant Professor, Sport Management, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2038242023-04-28T12:45:49Z2023-04-28T12:45:49ZIn ‘Air,’ Michael Jordan’s silence speaks volumes about the marketing of Black athletes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522369/original/file-20230421-26-t3g1lg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C3089%2C1896&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jordan wears his iconic 'Air Jordan' Nike sneakers during a game in 1985.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/detail-of-the-air-jordan-nike-shoes-worn-by-chicago-bulls-news-photo/53033254?adppopup=true">Focus on Sport/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16419074/">Air</a>,” which tells the story of Nike’s signing of Michael Jordan, isn’t actually about Michael Jordan at all.</p>
<p>It’s about the beauty of design and the seduction of marketing. It’s about power suits, purple Porsches and Rolexes. It’s about white men languishing through midlife crises who salivate over the branding potential of a star basketball player.</p>
<p>As for Jordan? Audiences just see his back as he strolls into the Nike offices and his hands as he admires the Air Jordan prototype – but never his face. In the entire film, he utters only three words.</p>
<p>Much has been made about <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2023/04/air-movie-ben-affleck-matt-damon-sonny-vaccaro.html">Michael Jordan’s representation</a> or lack thereof in “Air.”</p>
<p>How could a film about one of the most famous Black men in the world obscure his presence?</p>
<p>The film’s true power is its ability to convey an unnerving truth about the sneakers’ mystique: Jordan’s athletic ability was crucial to the success of Nike and Air Jordan; not so much his face – and definitely not his words.</p>
<p>In this way, “Air” becomes the story of how a struggling company created one of the most successful brands in the world on the back of a Black body, a tale as old as the nation itself.</p>
<h2>Liftoff</h2>
<p>In 1983, Nike’s marketing director, Rob Strasser, wrote an <a href="https://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2016/6/13/meet-the-man-who-reinvented-nike-seduced-adidas-and-helped-make-portland-the-sports-gear-capital-of-the-world">internal memo</a> explaining the importance of using star athletes to sell their products: “Individual athletes, even more than teams, will be the heroes; symbols more and more of what real people can’t do anymore – risk and win.” </p>
<p>This memo appeared during a turbulent period for Nike. The company <a href="https://s1.q4cdn.com/806093406/files/doc_financials/1981/1981%20annual%20report.pdf">had gone public in 1980</a> with a listless opening. In 1984, the company posted its first losing quarter and initiated a monthlong wave of layoffs employees called the “<a href="https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2016/06/meet-the-man-who-reinvented-nike-seduced-adidas-and-helped-make-portland-the-sports-gear-capital-of-the-world">St. Valentine’s Day Massacre</a>.”</p>
<p>Who would be that hero? The ailing shoe company sought a body brimming with transcendent talent, a superhuman athlete. </p>
<p>Enter the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan, of whom Boston Celtics legend <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2887426-god-disguised-as-michael-jordan-when-everything-changed-for-his-airness">Larry Bird once said</a>, “I think he’s God disguised as Michael Jordan.”</p>
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<img alt="Bald man in red shirt adjusts his watch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523305/original/file-20230427-22-g91hvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sports agent David Falk represented Michael Jordan during the entirety of his career.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sports-agent-david-falk-looks-on-during-a-game-between-the-news-photo/382245?adppopup=true">Doug Pensinger/Allsport via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549826/sneakers-by-rodrigo-corral-alex-french-and-howie-kahn/">During the summer of 1984</a>, Nike shoe designer Peter Moore and Strasser gathered in the Washington, D.C., office of Jordan’s agent, David Falk. </p>
<p>In a scene authors Rodrigo Corral, Alex French and Howie Kahn detail in their 2017 book, “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/549826/sneakers-by-rodrigo-corral-alex-french-and-howie-kahn/9780448494333">Sneakers</a>,” Falk, after exchanging pleasantries, looked to Strasser and said, “Rob, I’ve got an idea. I want to marry Michael to your airbag technology.” </p>
<p>Nike had developed <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Sneaker_Book.html?id=Drg9PgAACAAJ">its air cushions</a> in 1977. It involved infusing the midsoles of shoes with pockets of pressurized gas to absorb shock, but the company was having a difficult time marketing it.</p>
<p>Falk then paused for dramatic effect, before uttering, “Air Jordan.”</p>
<p>In 1985, Nike released the first Air Jordan sneaker. A year later, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-10-07-9310070083-story.html">Nike sold US$100 million</a> worth of Air Jordan shoes and apparel, boosting the company’s profits to $59 million from only $10 million the year before.</p>
<p>After 38 years and 37 iterations of their flagship line of basketball shoes, Jordans have become a transcendent cultural talisman memorializing Michael Jordan’s career and basketball’s influence on American life – but also, his labor.</p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/nike/?sh=52574e9c6eb5">Nike is worth a staggering $200 billion</a>. Meanwhile, the Jordan brand, which was <a href="https://www.si.com/fannation/sneakers/news/jordan-brand-launched-25-years-ago-today">spun off into its own company in 1997</a>, brings in billions of dollars per year, of which <a href="https://frontofficesports.com/jordan-more-than-doubled-his-nba-career-earnings-in-2022-from-nike-deal">Jordan pockets 5%</a>.</p>
<h2>Buying a piece of Blackness</h2>
<p>I’m writing a book that explores the intimate connections between sneakers and Blackness. In it, I argue that the Black body’s long history of objectification and commodification undergirds the branding, mass consumption and culture of sneakers.</p>
<p>What “Air” does better than anything else is to unbox a provocative, sobering truth about Jordans’ meteoric rise: They are cast as literal extensions of Black bodies. They represent the literal molding of a Black man’s feet, with their vulcanized rubber, leather and laces encapsulating Black athletic greatness and cool. </p>
<p>Finally figuring out how to sell Nike’s airbag technology was the other side of Air’s recipe for success. </p>
<p>In truth, Nike Air was a curiosity. It was unstable and unreliable. But runners became enamored with the idea of a cushioning technology they couldn’t see and much less understand. People knew they loved the sensation of Air even though the “how” remained a mystery. </p>
<p>The seemingly simple concept of explaining Air had eluded the company. <a href="https://powerhousebooks.com/books/sole-provider-thirty-years-of-nike-basketball/">In an interview with journalist Scoop Jackson</a>, Bruce Kilgore, Nike designer responsible for the <a href="https://www.kickgame.co.uk/blogs/sneaker-news/how-bruce-kilgore-encapsulated-sneaker-culture">Air Force 1</a>, articulated the difficulty of taking the air midsole from idea to execution to market: “How do you take something inherently unstable and put [it] into [a basketball shoe] that is all about stability?” </p>
<p>But six years after the development of the air midsole, David Falk cracked the code of Nike’s transparent, little black box: Don’t market the technology. Market the body that wears it.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The first TV ad for Air Jordans features the iconic line, ‘Who says man was not meant to fly?’</span></figcaption>
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<p>This marketing ploy to shift the attention of consumers from mundane pockets of polyurethane to on-court performances, while indeed innovative, centers an incredibly old tradition of Americans seeing Black bodies as being spectacularly convertible to profit.</p>
<p>Air Jordans romanticize an American wistfulness for the stoic and branded Black workhorse. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/the-legend-of-john-henry-talcott-wv.htm">John Henry</a>, the legendary steel driver, was a hero, and so, too, is Jordan. For Black bodies – Jordan and Henry, but also athletes like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/02/sports/football/damar-hamlin-bills-hit.html">Damar Hamlin</a>, who suffered a near-fatal injury during an NFL game in early 2023 – heroism is articulated through the hypnotizing anthem of toil and exhaustion.</p>
<p>Sports provide an easy cover for the perpetuation of this myth. Disgraced sports commentator Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder <a href="https://www.espn.com/espnplus/catalog/64d88369-89db-4c8a-a1b9-ba80986a4def/the-legend-of-jimmy-the-greek">once said</a>, “The Black is a better athlete to begin with … They can jump higher and run faster.” </p>
<p>How far removed is the marketing of Air Jordans from the words of Jimmy the Greek?</p>
<p>As the voiceover in the first Air Jordan television ad proclaims, “Who says man was not meant to fly?”</p>
<h2>Bodies ripe for the picking</h2>
<p>Before Nike’s dominance, brands like Pony, Converse and Adidas were popular on street corners and basketball courts around the country – a history told by DJ and author Bobbito Garcia in his 2003 book, “<a href="https://www.circlea.com/product/where-d-you-get-those-tenth-anniversary-edition/2264">Where’d You Get Those?</a>”</p>
<p>Nike and the Air Jordan, however, represented a watershed moment in which this bubbling market of “sneaker fiends,” as Garcia calls them, went mainstream. Through artful placement in Black films – specifically Spike Lee’s “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc6_XgtOQgI">Do the Right Thing</a>” – and with an assist from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHI1yI1Ndk">Michael Jackson and hip-hop</a>, the Air Jordan line transformed sneakers into one of the most important footwear items and fashion brands the world has ever witnessed.</p>
<p>Nike would go on to feature scores of other Black athletes in its ad campaigns, and the names of these heroes ring off the tongue sharp and proud like a trumpet’s blare: <a href="https://img.cdn-pictorem.com/uploads/collection/S/SO5PKP9NEK/900_Row-One-Brand_bo_jackson_1988_nike_ad_sc_trainer_shoe.jpg">Bo Jackson</a>, <a href="https://sneakernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Penny-Hardaway-Air-Penny-1-from-Lil-Penny-book.jpg">Penny Hardaway</a>, <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/33/bb/17/33bb17bce839e40918615c12c98e95c7.jpg">Kobe Bryant</a>, <a href="https://cdn.musebycl.io/2020-08/You%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Stop%20Sisters%20%7C%20Nike.jpg">Venus and Serena Williams</a>, <a href="https://cdn.wallpapersafari.com/26/46/nLoMke.jpg">Lebron James</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">An ad from Nike’s iconic ‘Bo Knows’ campaign, featuring star athlete Bo Jackson.</span></figcaption>
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<p>None of this would be possible without Nike’s big bet on Jordan.</p>
<p>So why does a film give Michael Jordan, the man who had so much to do with Nike’s success, so little to say? </p>
<p>I believe the answer is as uncomfortable as it is simple: Michael Jordan isn’t the film’s subject, but its object.</p>
<p>In one of the film’s more memorable scenes, Nike marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon, goes to visit the Jordan family in Wilmington, North Carolina. </p>
<p>When he arrives, he greets James, Michael’s father, before being passed off to the real decision-maker: Deloris Jordan, the matriarch of the Jordan clan. Viola Davis portrays Deloris with a drowning depth. Every utterance and glance simmers. </p>
<p>“Five generations of Jordans are buried in these forests,” she announces as she sits with Vaccaro in their backyard. She’s polite but distant. Her piercing eyes know to be wary of unannounced visits from white men in shiny cars. Everyone wants a piece of her son, and it’s her job to keep him whole. </p>
<p>In the film, before unveiling the Air Jordan 1 to Vaccaro and Strasser, Peter Moore, played by Matthew Maher, describes the shoe: “It has the logic of water, like shoe was always here, like it always existed.” </p>
<p>What Moore cannot know is how right he really is. Deloris Jordan and those five buried generations have always been here. </p>
<p>The Black body, from America’s inception, has always been there, as cotton and as sugar, ripe for the picking.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A. Joseph Dial does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The film conveys an uncomfortable truth: Jordan was merely a vessel for Nike’s meteoric rise.A. Joseph Dial, Disco Network Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1887862022-08-18T17:23:54Z2022-08-18T17:23:54ZWill the Inflation Reduction Act actually reduce inflation? How will the corporate minimum tax work? An economist has answers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479917/original/file-20220818-6276-9qt389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=152%2C58%2C2842%2C1782&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Don't expect the Inflation Reduction Act to bring down prices all that much.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ProducerPrices/e52f9db68a144f2e9822d8c2f0f06925/photo?Query=prices&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=51911&currentItemNo=52">AP Photo/David Zalubowski</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The U.S. is about to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/13/upshot/whats-in-the-democrats-climate-health-bill.html">spend US$490 billion over 10 years</a> on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving health care and reducing the federal deficit. Where’s all that money coming from?</em></p>
<p><em>We asked University of Michigan economist <a href="https://www.nirupamarao.org">Nirupama Rao</a> to examine how the new law will raise enough revenue to pay for clean energy tax credits, Affordable Care Act subsidies and incentives for manufacturers to use cleaner technologies, among other initiatives. We also wanted to know, given its name, will the Inflation Reduction Act actually bring down inflation?</em></p>
<h2>What are the main revenue components in the bill?</h2>
<p>The new law funds itself primarily <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/13/upshot/whats-in-the-democrats-climate-health-bill.html">through a mixture of tax-related measures and health care savings</a>. In fact, the revenue it’s projected to raise more than pays for the new spending, reducing the deficit by roughly a quarter of a trillion dollars over 10 years.</p>
<p>The biggest source of revenue, <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation_reduction_act_one_page_summary.pdf">projected by the Joint Committee on Taxation</a> at about $222 billion, comes from a new 15% minimum corporate tax rate. Another $124 billion in net revenue is expected as a result of stepped-up tax enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service. The committee expects two other tax measures – including a 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks – would raise about $126 billion.</p>
<p>Congress is also hoping to save $265 billion through several provisions to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-letting-medicare-negotiate-drug-prices-wont-be-the-game-changer-for-health-care-democrats-hope-it-will-be-188560?notice=Article+has+been+updated.">lower the amount of money the government spends</a> on prescription drugs through its Medicare program. </p>
<h2>How will the corporate minimum tax work?</h2>
<p>The corporate minimum tax is aimed at raising revenue from companies that report large profits to their shareholders but pay minimal taxes. </p>
<p>Though businesses can, of course, owe no tax because of perfectly legitimate uses of the tax code, seeing headlines about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/11/minimum-corporate-tax">successful companies</a> paying little to no tax <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/30/top-tax-frustrations-for-americans-the-feeling-that-some-corporations-wealthy-people-dont-pay-fair-share/">has been galling</a> to many Americans and can potentially undermine the public’s faith in the tax system. </p>
<p>In addition, government revenue from companies <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/corporate-income-tax-revenue-share-gdp-1934-2020">has plunged in recent years</a> as a result of the 2017 corporate tax cut and other measures. Corporate tax revenue fell by nearly half as a share of gross domestic product from 2015 to 2020. </p>
<p><iframe id="joM7r" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/joM7r/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>To be subject to the minimum tax, U.S. corporations must earn an average of at least $1 billion in adjusted book income – the earnings they report to shareholders less some adjustments – over the previous three years. It hits foreign companies too, though they need only report $100 million in U.S. income. </p>
<p>Basically, companies subject to the minimum will have to calculate their tax liability twice – once under regular corporate income tax rules and again by multiplying their adjusted book income by 15%. Their tax is whichever is greater. Theoretically, this ensures they at least pay the minimum.</p>
<p>A few important adjustments included in the bill’s final language will limit how much companies pay under the minimum tax. To prevent manufacturers from facing high minimum tax bills, for example, <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/how-senate-approved-corporate-minimum-tax-works">companies will be able to employ</a> some of the same credits and deductions they use to reduce their regular corporate tax bills to lower the minimum tax they’ll pay as well. </p>
<p>While an earlier vision of the bill would have subjected private equity funds to the minimum tax, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/business/corporate-minimum-tax-private-equity.html">intense lobbying</a> of Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema helped the industry get an exemption, along with retaining the carried interest loophole that the bill initially closed.</p>
<p>In the end, <a href="https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/CAMT%20JCT%20Data.pdf">fewer than 150 companies</a> – including many household names like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/08/11/minimum-corporate-tax/">Amazon, AT&T and General Motors</a> – are expected to be subject to the tax. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign reads Internal Revenue Service in front of a large stone building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479918/original/file-20220818-459-zgp5vk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The IRS gets a big boost in funding from the new law, which should help it beef up enforcement and bring in more revenue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Corporations-ZeroTaxes/960af7fa6f804aa3acc39d119caf450d/photo?Query=company%20tax%20profits&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=236&currentItemNo=11">AP Photo/J. David Ake</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How will IRS enforcement generate so much revenue?</h2>
<p>The law allots $80 billion in new funding for the Internal Revenue Service. The Joint Committee on Taxation expects the investment to <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation_reduction_act_one_page_summary.pdf">garner $204 billion in revenue over 10 years</a>, or $124 billion once you subtract the increased spending. </p>
<p>The main target of this spending is the so-called tax gap, which is currently <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/the-case-for-a-robust-attack-on-the-tax-gap">estimated at about $600 billion a year</a>. The tax gap is the difference between how much corporate or individual taxpayers owe the IRS and how much the agency is able to collect. </p>
<p>The new revenue is expected to come from increased auditing, mostly targeting high-income taxpayers. <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/JLY-letter-to-Commissioner-Rettig-Signed.pdf">Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen</a> and <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/commissioners-letter-to-the-senate.pdf">IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig</a> have both pledged that the investments will not lift audit rates on small businesses and households earning less than $400,000 a year.</p>
<p>Many Democrats, along with former <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/17/cbo-build-back-better-irs-revenue-too-low/">Treasury Secretary Larry Summers</a>, believe this investment in the IRS will raise a lot more money than estimated because of <a href="http://jasondebacker.com/papers/DHTY_IndivAudit.pdf">better compliance</a> among taxpayers who want to avoid being audited. </p>
<p>The funding will also be used to update <a href="https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2018/03/irs-system-processing-your-taxes-almost-60-years-old/146770/">antiquated technology</a> and increase the IRS’s staff. Decades-old computer systems and understaffing <a href="https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/reports/2021-annual-report-to-congress/">prevent the IRS from answering taxpayer queries</a>, tracking funds owed and using simple analytics to guide enforcement. </p>
<p>While an $80 billion investment that returns $204 billion already sounds pretty impressive, it may be possible that it’s a conservative estimate. </p>
<h2>Will the law reduce inflation, as the name implies?</h2>
<p>Probably not much.</p>
<p>Several measures in the law, such as narrowing the deficit, lowering drug prices and making the U.S. less vulnerable to energy price spikes, should all help reduce inflation somewhat. </p>
<p>Though monetary policy is the main tool for fighting inflation, it’s also possible that the new law will convince people that Congress is functional and willing to take steps to address inflation, and that feeling <a href="https://twitter.com/WendyEdelberg/status/1555256251369635841">could lead to lower expectations</a> for future inflation, which can be a self-fulfilling prophesy. </p>
<p>However, the magnitude of the direct impact on inflation, despite the bill’s name, will likely be slight. The <a href="https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/8/12/senate-passed-inflation-reduction-act">Penn-Wharton Budget Model</a>, which publishes economic analysis on the fiscal impact of public policy, suggests that the reduction in inflation of the Inflation Reduction Act “will be statistically indistinguishable from zero.” </p>
<p>That’s an economist’s way of saying, when it comes to the bill’s impact on inflation, don’t get your hopes up too much.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nirupama Rao has received research support from the Center for Equitable Growth.</span></em></p>The new law will pay for increased spending in several ways, including a corporate minimum tax and funding tax code enforcement by the IRS.Nirupama Rao, Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1824462022-06-01T11:53:17Z2022-06-01T11:53:17ZNFTs: how top brands like Nike and Prada are using them – and what could go wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466409/original/file-20220531-20-x8ukck.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Forget real sneakers – soon we'll be more worried about the digital variety. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/avatars-metaverse-online-store-merchandising-via-2140674043">naratrip2</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Luxury fashion house Prada has a scheme for customers who want something even more exclusive than its usual range of clothing and accessories. Each month, on a first-come first-served basis, the Time Capsule Collection offers ultra-limited editions of Prada products. They’re only on sale for 24 hours, with purchases delivered straight to customers’ doors. </p>
<p>For the new June edition, there’s <a href="https://www.ledgerinsights.com/prada-to-incorporate-nfts-in-time-capsule-project/">an extra twist</a>. Those who buy one of only 100 black and white button-down shirts by Cassius Hirst, son of renowned British artist Damien, will receive an NFT (non-fungible token) as part of the experience. They are GIFs of the black and white capsules that Prada uses to brand these events, and they’re also being made available to purchasers of previous editions. </p>
<p>It is the latest example of how top brands are experimenting with NFTs to add another dimension to their businesses. This has recently included everything from Nike digital sneakers to virtual collectables from sport clubs such as AC Milan. For example, <a href="https://www.esquiremag.ph/money/wealth/virtual-gucci-bag-roblox-a00304-20210526">Gucci is selling</a> a digital bag for more than its real-world equivalent (US$4,115 vs US$3,400), in a sign that the Prada NFTs could fetch a high price if they are resold. </p>
<p>Most of the media coverage around NFTs has focused on big art auctions such as <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/11/22325054/beeple-christies-nft-sale-cost-everydays-69-million">Beeple’s Everydays</a>, a giant digital collage that sold for US$69 million, and the heavily hyped <a href="https://boredapeyachtclub.com/#/">Bored Ape Yacht Club</a>, 10,000 cartoon avatars of primates looking, well, bored. But clearly, the arrival of traditional brands is also a major part of the story. Total NFT sales for 2022 are heading for <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nft-market-sales-dropping-170000363.html">about £90 billion</a>, more than double 2021 despite the fact that markets are sinking right now. </p>
<p>So what are the best examples of brands operating in this space, and are there pitfalls?</p>
<h2>Early movers</h2>
<p>NFTs are online assets that double as certificates of ownership, usually of digital items such as a piece or art or a video, but potentially even physical things like an item of clothing or a car. People can buy and sell NFTs on marketplaces including <a href="https://opensea.io/">OpenSea</a>, <a href="https://looksrare.org/">LooksRare</a> or <a href="https://magiceden.io/">Magic Eden</a>, and the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/10/trading-in-nfts-spiked-21000percent-to-top-17-billion-in-2021-report.html">market exploded</a> in 2021 on the back of the Beeple hype and leading celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Lebron James issuing NFTs of their own. </p>
<p>Sport associations such as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sports-nft-dapper-labs-nba-investment/">NBA</a> and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sports-nft-dapper-labs-nba-investment/">NFL</a> were among the early movers, selling NFTs of collectable cards of sporting heroes, videos of classic moments, and even jerseys autographed by players. This is all about using NFTs to capitalise on a loyal fan base by offering them rare assets. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Rows of sports NFTs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466410/original/file-20220531-16-jyi8f1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sports associations and clubs are making hay out of NFT collectables.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/avatars-metaverse-online-store-merchandising-via-2140674043">Maurice NORBERT</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the coming years, NFTs are likely to meld with the virtual worlds of the metaverse, in the sense that many will probably be usable there. Balenciaga, another luxury fashion house, has been an early pioneer in this direction, offering a collection of NFT accessories for gamers to <a href="https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/news/balenciaga-brings-high-fashion-to-fortnite">wear on Fortnite</a>. </p>
<p>Nike has been particularly forward-thinking, buying NFT pioneer <a href="https://news.nike.com/news/nike-acquires-rtfkt">RTFKT Studios</a> late in 2021. RTFKT made its name with a collection of Manga-style 3D NFT characters called <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/clonex?search%5BsortAscending%5D=false&search%5BsortBy%5D=LAST_SALE_DATE">CloneX</a> that now trade for tens of thousands of US dollars. In keeping with other top NFT collections like the Bored Apes, RTFKT is using the CloneX characters to craft a storyline that is gradually unfolding over time. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="CloneX avatars on sale on OpenSea." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466562/original/file-20220601-49160-xhye11.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">CloneX avatars on sale on OpenSea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://opensea.io/collection/clonex">OpenSea</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In February, CloneX owners were airdropped NFTs of mystery digital boxes <a href="https://boardroom.tv/nike-rtfkt-mnlth-nft-collectible/">known as Mnlths</a>. The Mnlths had Nike swooshes on the side and quickly started selling for upwards of US$10,000 (£7,944) on NFT marketplaces, even though nobody knew what they contained. In April, Nike announced that owners could “burn” them to unlock a pair of digital sneakers known as <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/nike-and-rtfkt-take-on-digital-fashion-with-first-cryptokick-sneaker">CryptoKicks</a>, plus a vial that allows users to customise them, and another mystery box called Mnlth 2. A pair of CryptoKicks has since reportedly sold <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/nike-sold-an-nft-sneaker-for-usd-134000-7944870/">for US$134,000</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, online platforms are helping to make these NFTs more usable. <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2745d50b-36e4-4c0a-abe0-e93f035b0628">Meta is creating</a> features for Facebook and Instagram that will make it possible for users to create NFTs and showcase them on their social media profiles. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/16/spotify-new-feature-artists-promote-nfts/">Spotify is working</a> on something similar, with a view to creating new revenue streams for artists and record companies. </p>
<h2>Danger ahead?</h2>
<p>But if these are examples of NFTs’ potential for major brands, there are also serious risks. The market has <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/146566/nft-bayc-crypto-markets-prices-ethereum-solana-cryptopunks-terra-luna#:%7E:text=The%20popular%20Bored%20Ape,ETH%20over%20the%20same%20period.">fallen substantially</a> in both prices and volumes in recent weeks in line with drops in everything from the stock market to cryptocurrencies. Many collectors will be sitting on assets that were worth a lot more several months ago. </p>
<p>A historic sports club like, say, Real Madrid might unintentionally end up undermining its fans’ financial well-being as a result. Should the club compensate these people in some way to avoid jeopardising the relationship? Or what if the fans become like day traders, flipping NFTs to try and make money. Is the club then vulnerable to being accused of enabling something close to gambling? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="NFT of a one-arm bandit" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466411/original/file-20220531-18-d9x58e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The NFT casino is now open.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/roulette-machine-pixel-art-style-2161140547">Pixelart</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another danger is undesirable repercussions from a company giving control of assets to unknown third parties. How would, say, fashion label Patagonia’s customers feel about its sustainable and activist values if its NFTs ended up being flaunted by a major entrepreneur in fossil fuels?</p>
<p>For many brands it’s also not yet clear whether NFTs could cannibalise the sales of their physical products. Equally, not all brands have the same scarcity value of a Prada or Gucci. A budget retailer such as Primark might experience a lack of demand if it launched NFTs, and its image could be harmed as a result. </p>
<p>Companies launching NFTs are going to potentially need to change more than it first appears. They will need to set up a range of new roles to manage relationships with NFT owners and their corporate reputation. </p>
<p>This could become a distraction from the company’s core business. Perhaps they become like an investment house, more focused on maximising the sales of NFTs than creating value for their customers. Especially for brands with a more progressive culture such as Ben & Jerry’s or Oatly, that could raise awkward ethical issues. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, it’s going to be fascinating to see how this market develops. The companies that succeed will probably be the ones that are alert to these risks, and view NFTs as a new revenue market to explore rather than a short-term opportunity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182446/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Achilleas Boukis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>NFT sales passed US$40 billion in 2021 and now more brands want to get in on the action.Achilleas Boukis, Associate professor, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1792002022-05-23T12:23:06Z2022-05-23T12:23:06ZWhat is the metaverse, and what can we do there?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464280/original/file-20220519-26-rsiass.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C12%2C8616%2C3070&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What will it take for the metaverse to live up to its potential?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’ve likely heard recently how the metaverse will usher in a new era of digital connectivity, virtual reality (VR) experiences and e-commerce. Tech companies are betting big on it: Microsoft’s massive <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-19/microsoft-msft-activision-blizzard-atvi-deal-shows-big-tech-metaverse-push">US$68.7 billion acquisition of game developing giant Activision Blizzard</a> reflected the company’s desire to bolster its position in the interactive entertainment space. </p>
<p>Prior to this, Facebook’s parent company rebranded itself as Meta — a key pillar of founder Mark Zuckerberg’s grand ambitions to reimagine the social media platform as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/15/meta-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-metaverse">a metaverse company, building the future of social connection</a>.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/facebooks-rebranding-is-anything-but-meta-172465">Facebook’s rebranding is anything but 'meta'</a>
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<p>But other non-tech corporations are clamouring to get in on the ground floor as well, from <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/02/nike-is-quietly-preparing-for-the-metaverse-.html">Nike filing new trademarks to sell virtual Air Jordans</a> and Walmart preparing to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/16/walmart-is-quietly-preparing-to-enter-the-metaverse.html">offer virtual merchandise in online stores using its own cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)</a>. </p>
<p>As a journalism professor who has been researching the future of immersive media, I agree the metaverse opens up transformative opportunities. But I also see inherent challenges in its road to mainstream adoption. So what exactly is the metaverse and why is it being hyped up as a game-changing innovation? </p>
<h2>Entering the metaverse</h2>
<p>The metaverse is “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2480741.2480751">an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds</a>.” These worlds are accessed through <a href="https://theconversation.com/metaverse-five-things-to-know-and-what-it-could-mean-for-you-171061">a virtual reality headset</a> — users navigate the metaverse using their eye movements, feedback controllers or voice commands. The headset immerses the user, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628298">stimulating what is known as presence</a>, which is created by generating the physical sensation of actually being there.</p>
<p>To see the metaverse in action, we can look at popular massively multiplayer virtual reality games such as <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/471710/Rec_Room/">Rec Room</a> or <a href="https://www.oculus.com/horizon-worlds/">Horizon Worlds</a>, where participants use avatars to interact with each other and manipulate their environment.</p>
<p>But the wider applications beyond gaming are staggering. Musicians and entertainment labels are experimenting with <a href="https://futurism.com/facebook-concert-metaverse-flopped">hosting concerts in the metaverse</a>. The <a href="https://www.xliveglobal.com/fan-experience/major-sports-teams-join-metaverse-through-digital-venue-twins">sports industry is following suit</a>, with top franchises <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/manchester-city-to-build-etihad-stadium-in-the-metaverse">like Manchester City</a> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2020/10/01/creating-virtual-stadiums-the-fifa-21-way/?sh=bb061d4624fd">building virtual stadiums so fans can watch games</a> and, presumably, purchase virtual merchandise. </p>
<p>Perhaps the farthest reaching opportunities for the metaverse will be in <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/A-whole-new-world_Education-meets-the-metaverse-FINAL-021422.pdf">online learning</a> and <a href="https://qz.com/2086353/seoul-is-developing-a-metaverse-government-platform/">government services</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="children using laptops sit at a table with a digital dinosaur hologram in the middle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464289/original/file-20220519-15-3jkr6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The metaverse contains exciting new applications for education at all levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>This is the popular conception of the metaverse: a VR-based world independent of our physical one where people can socialize and engage in a seemingly unlimited variety of virtual experiences, <a href="https://business-reporter.co.uk/technology/the-metaverse-the-new-digital-economy">all supported with its own digital economy</a>. </p>
<h2>More than virtual reality</h2>
<p>But there are challenges to overcome before the metaverse can achieve widespread, global adoption. And one key challenge is the “virtual” part of this universe.</p>
<p>While VR is considered a key ingredient of the metaverse recipe, entrance to the metaverse is not (and should not) be limited to having a VR headset. In a sense, anyone with a computer or smartphone can tap into a metaverse experience, such as the <a href="https://secondlife.com/">digital world of Second Life</a>. Offering broad accessibility is key to making the metaverse work based on VR’s continued uphill battle to gain traction with consumers.</p>
<p>The VR market has seen remarkable innovations in a short period of time. A few years ago, people interested in home VR had to choose between expensive computer-based systems that tethered the user or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4905824">low-cost but extremely limited smartphone-based headsets</a>.</p>
<p>Now we’ve seen the arrival of affordable, ultra high-quality, portable wireless headsets like <a href="https://www.inputmag.com/tech/meta-quest-2-headset-vr">Meta’s Quest line</a>, which has quickly become the market leader in home VR. The graphics are sensational, the content library is more robust than ever, and the device costs less than most video game consoles. So why are so few people using VR?</p>
<p>On one hand, global sales of VR headsets <a href="https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS48969722">have been growing</a>, with 2021 being a banner year for headset manufacturers, who had their best sales <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/2016s-five-best-virtual-reality-headsets/">since 2016’s flurry of big-brand VR device releases</a>. But they still only sold around 11 million devices worldwide. </p>
<p>Getting people to even use their devices can be a challenge, as it’s estimated <a href="https://findly.in/virtual-reality-statistics/#:%7E:text=28%25%20of%20VR%20set%20owners,only%201%20time%20per%20year.">only 28 per cent of people who own VR headsets use them on a daily basis</a>. As numerous <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/technology/virtual-reality.html">tech critics have pointed out</a>, the VR mainstream revolution that has been <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2020/10/20/21521608/vr-headsets-pricing-comfort-virtual-reality-future">promised for years</a> has <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/virtual-reality-rich-white-kid-of-technology/">largely failed to come to fruition</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a woman wearing a vr headset with an outstretched hand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464291/original/file-20220519-24-o01c8y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Virtual reality headsets are increasing in popularity, but there are challenges to their widespread adoption.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Virtual movement, physical discomfort</h2>
<p>There are a myriad factors, from <a href="https://fortune.com/longform/virtual-reality-struggle-hope-vr/">missed marketing opportunities</a> to <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/facebook-expects-oculus-hardware-delays-from-coronavirus/">manufacturing obstacles</a>, as to why VR hasn’t caught on in a bigger way. But it’s possible that using VR is inherently unappealing for a significant number of people, particularly for frequent use. </p>
<p>Despite impressive advancements in screen technology, VR developers are still trying to address the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59342-1">cybersickness</a>” — a feeling of nausea akin to motion sickness — their devices elicit in many users. </p>
<p>Studies have found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2020.1869320">neck physical discomfort</a> may present another barrier, which may remain an issue as long as VR requires the use of large headsets. There’s also research to suggest that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.00004">women experience much higher levels of discomfort</a> because the fit of the headset is optimized for men. </p>
<p>And beyond the physical challenges of using VR is the isolating nature of it: “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/vr-isolation-1.3980539">Once you put on the headset, you’re separated from the world around you</a>,” writes Ramona Pringle, a digital technology professor and researcher.</p>
<p>Certainly, some are drawn to VR to experience heightened escapism or to interact with others virtually. But this disconnection to the physical world, and the uneasy feeling of separation from people, may be a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/04/vr-shouldnt-just-isolating-heres-can-social/">significant hurdle in getting people to voluntarily wear a headset for hours at a time</a>.</p>
<h2>Mediated, magical worlds everywhere</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/augmented-reality">Augmented reality (AR) experiences</a> may hold the key for the metaverse to reach its true potential. With AR, users use their smartphone (or other device) to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/07/19/the-important-difference-between-virtual-reality-augmented-reality-and-mixed-reality/">digitally enhance what they perceive in the physical world in real-time</a>, allowing them to tap into a virtual world while still feeling present in this one. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">An interview with video games researcher and designer Kris Alexander on the potential of augmented reality.</span></figcaption>
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<p>A metaverse centred on augmented reality wouldn’t be a completely new digital world — it would intersect with our real world. It’s this version of the metaverse that could actually have the ability to change the way we live, argues computer scientist and tech writer Louis Rosenberg:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I believe the vision portrayed by many Metaverse companies of a world filled with cartoonish avatars is misleading. Yes, virtual worlds for socializing will become quite popular, but it will not be the means through which immersive media transforms society. The true Metaverse — the one that becomes the central platform of our lives — will be an augmented world. <a href="https://bigthink.com/the-future/metaverse-augmented-virtual-reality/">If we do it right, it will be magical, and it will be everywhere</a>.”</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adrian Ma does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The metaverse is being hyped as a game-changing virtual platform that will transform our digital lives. But it has some inherent challenges to overcome in order to achieve mass adoption.Adrian Ma, Assistant Professor, Journalism, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1814682022-05-04T01:47:30Z2022-05-04T01:47:30ZBrands can be rewarded for social activism – but they also risk losing customers to apolitical rivals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460445/original/file-20220429-25829-nh3jb8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">GettyImages</span> </figcaption></figure><p>From Nike to Ben & Jerry’s to Airbnb, more and more brands are taking a stand on sociopolitical issues (often called <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0743915620947359?casa_token=BXNMr51GWTUAAAAA%3ArdTRd8Usz55W8CQ_CyVSqAKyn7sDnH1EqePUf8ExsnOKBlOZVDE49ONXRCsmKDMn2dsiKj-iRJ5v8A">brand activism</a>), to the point it’s arguably become a component of any brand’s strategy. </p>
<p>But as consumers grow more accustomed to such initiatives, they’ve also become increasingly critical. While its clear many consumers want brands to take a stand, it’s not always clear what that stand should be.</p>
<p>So weighing in on a divisive issue becomes a calculated risk. Customers may stop buying a brand if it supports the “wrong” side of an issue, or supports it in the wrong way. </p>
<p>If and when this happens, the door opens for rival brands to pick up those disgruntled customers purely by remaining neutral on an issue, gaining an edge simply by observing and reacting to what the first brand has done. This raises an important question: is there a <a href="https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/03/20/8371782/">second mover advantage</a> when it comes to brand activism?</p>
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<h2>Bystander brands and free agents</h2>
<p>Take Gillette’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-46874617">now infamous</a> 2019 “The Best Men Can Be” campaign, for example. The short film features images of violence between boys, sexism in movies and at work, as well as news clips of the #MeToo movement. A voice asks, “Is this the best a man can get?”. </p>
<p>The campaign went viral with more than four million YouTube views in 48 hours, generating both <a href="https://theconversation.com/post-gillette-other-brands-are-better-at-matching-practice-with-talk-but-dont-get-the-publicity-110595">high praise and intense criticism</a>. </p>
<p>The day after the Gillette ad was released, rival Dollar Shave Club tweeted a short and simple message: “Welcome to the Club”. Comments on the tweet suggest it resonated with a group of consumers seemingly offended by the Gillette ad.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1084917538713067520"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce2f5be8e2e480001ae99c8/t/6242658dae7d6f22b24fba67/1648518541379/AMTP+2022+PROGRAM++3-23-22.pdf">Our research</a> examines what we call “bystander brands” that appeal to disaffected consumers of rival brands, who are offended by an activist stance and now “free agents” with no fixed brand allegiances.</p>
<p>As second movers, these bystander brands can, at least in the short term, benefit from consumer scepticism (or cynicism) fuelled by a perceived overload of brand activism – some of it inauthentic, opportunistic, imitative or just “<a href="https://theconversation.com/woke-washing-what-happens-when-marketing-communications-dont-match-corporate-practice-108035">woke washing</a>” – which devalues such activism overall.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brand-activism-is-moving-up-the-supply-chain-corporate-accountability-or-commercial-censorship-151749">Brand activism is moving up the supply chain — corporate accountability or commercial censorship?</a>
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<h2>Targeting disaffected customers</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest that deliberate bystander brand strategies – waiting for a competitor to take a stand then appealing to alienated or offended customers – can appeal to certain consumers.</p>
<p>So far, research in this area has tended to focus on how sociopolitical brand activism works, how it can be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02761467211043074?casa_token=5ihMGtyrnG8AAAAA:YqOsLqSBVABzjgo9ZYI3Yv8u67OFLn13K1JsnLrqCiX75QepeIuWmRML5FOOlZ0sdmDsoq0A6SBt4vI">most effective</a>, and how companies can avoid reputational damage in the process.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/consumers-are-wise-to-woke-washing-but-truly-transformative-branding-can-still-make-a-difference-170190">Consumers are wise to ‘woke washing’ – but truly ‘transformative branding’ can still make a difference</a>
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<p>But little has been said about brands that might be drawn into activist conversations simply through their competitors taking a stand. Rivals or bystander brands could remain silent on an issue, take a neutral stance, or announce an opposing position.</p>
<p>Appealing to a competitor’s customers is typically very challenging, given the strong psychological “contracts” that build brand loyalty. The fallout from brand activism represents a rare situation where market share is up for grabs. </p>
<p>For example, following Nike’s endorsement of Colin Kaepernick with its 2018 “<a href="https://news.nike.com/featured_video/just-do-it-dream-crazy-film">Dream Crazy</a>” campaign, many enraged customers looked for alternative athletic brands. What are the likes of Adidas and Under Armour to do in this position? Surprisingly, the research has yet to address this potential market share in limbo. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three American football players kneel in protest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460478/original/file-20220429-25608-jfrfjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=457&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brands have struggled to navigate activism in the modern era, with noticeable missteps around Black Lives Matter and #metoo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/ffee-safety-eric-reid-quarterback-colin-kaepernick-and-news-photo/610456686?adppopup=true">Steve Dykes/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>The conservative consumer</h2>
<p>We find the desire to reject sociopolitical brand activism particularly true for customers who identify as “conservative”. While boycotting brands is a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/44/3/503/4091330">bipartisan affair</a>, the way consumers engage in boycotts differs. </p>
<p>Past research finds conservatives can be quicker to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-04383-001">seek punishment</a> and <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.4.110707.172335">want corrective action</a> as a result of their moral outrage. Brand rivals are sometimes even viewed with hostility as the “<a href="https://www.msi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MSI_Report_16-107.pdf">enemy</a>”. Switching from an offending brand to a rival satisfies a desire for retaliation, a pattern we observed across three studies.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nike-colin-kaepernick-and-the-pitfalls-of-woke-corporate-branding-102922">Nike, Colin Kaepernick and the pitfalls of 'woke' corporate branding</a>
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<hr>
<p>Furthermore, our work finds that intentionally mentioning such rivalries in brand advertising is more effective at attracting “free agent” conservatives, relative to their more liberal counterparts, who were less concerned with brand rivalry or persuaded by advertising based on it. </p>
<p>Strategically, then, remaining “activism adjacent” as a bystander brand represents a critical opportunity. As other brands risk losing customers with sociopolitical platitudes or inauthentic campaigns, rivals can maintain relevance in an increasingly nuanced marketing landscape. It can be as simple as a cheeky tweet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies are increasingly taking a stand on social and political issues, but they risk alienating customers in the process. Are other brands learning how to benefit from the backlash?Jessica Vredenburg, Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyKatharine Howie, Assistant Professor of Marketing, The University of Southern MississippiRhiannon M. Mesler, Associate professor, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1771252022-03-24T12:15:39Z2022-03-24T12:15:39ZMarch Madness stars can now cash in on endorsements – but some limits set by states and universities may still be unconstitutional<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453994/original/file-20220323-30834-1r5d3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C106%2C4347%2C2836&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gonzaga forward Drew Timme's mustache – and his basketball skills – helped him earn an endorsement from Dollar Shave Club.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NCAAMemphisGonzagaBasketball/f8b7de5e82334dd09a8fb4d4d2ab2a5f/photo?Query=Drew%20Timme&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=841&currentItemNo=6">AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>March Madness is proving lucrative for some of its <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-is-the-media-buzz-from-a-march-madness-cinderella-run-worth-to-a-school-like-saint-peters-179742">Cinderella stories</a> and standout stars, thanks to a 2021 <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18386472160721780784">Supreme Court ruling</a> that led the NCAA <a href="https://www.gfrlaw.com/what-we-do/insights/college-athletes-beat-ncaa-supreme-court-9-nil-allowing-endorsements">to end its longstanding ban</a> on student athletes earning money from endorsement deals. </p>
<p>Doug “Dougie Buckets” Edert, who led the Saint Peter’s Peacocks to their first ever Sweet 16 appearance <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/bracket">on March 25, 2022</a>, has already <a href="https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2022/03/23/saint-peters-guard-signs-nil-deal-with-buffalo-wild-wings">signed deals</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1506628145910276101">Buffalo Wild Wings</a> and sports site <a href="https://twitter.com/FOS/status/1506634718321823757">Barstool</a>. Drew Timme, the mustachioed star forward at Gonzaga, <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/sky-limit-march-madness-stars-150148714.html">agreed to use his whiskers</a> to sell razors for Dollar Shave Club. And Deja Kelly, a star sophomore at the University of North Carolina, <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/02/16/sports/dunkin-signs-its-first-college-athletes-endorsement-deals/">became one of Dunkin’s’ first</a> college endorsements in February when she agreed to promote the brand’s doughnuts and coffee. </p>
<p>But the Supreme Court ruling doesn’t mean anything goes. The NCAA’s <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2021/6/30/ncaa-adopts-interim-name-image-and-likeness-policy.aspx">new endorsement policy</a> simply pushes its authority over so-called name, image and likeness deals to universities and states. And many have established their own policies both regarding what deals college athletes can enter into and, perhaps more importantly, what deals college athletes can’t enter into. </p>
<p>At least 92 universities <a href="https://businessofcollegesports.com/tracker-nil-policies-by-institution">have created rules governing</a> what kinds of deals athletes can enter into. And 25 states <a href="https://businessofcollegesports.com/tracker-name-image-and-likeness-legislation-by-state/">have passed laws</a> or issued executive orders that affect all public and private schools under their jurisdiction. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kvBKEkUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">We study</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NbVWe8cAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">the interaction</a> between sports and law. While many of these endorsement deal restrictions are innocuous, such as <a href="https://www.the33rdteam.com/nil-update-policy-breakdowns-for-the-five-states-that-begin-on-july-1/">requiring financial literacy classes</a>, we believe others may actually be unconstitutional.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Black woman wearing a blue jersey jumps as she holds a basketball in her hands and prepares to shoot it over another woman's outstretched arm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454024/original/file-20220324-21-whgfve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UNC star Deja Kelly inked a deal to promote Dunkin’ doughnuts and coffee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NorthCarolinaNCStateBasketball/a7e8c121fa8243f29f3c34e090ebb237/photo?Query=Deja%20Kelly&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=41&currentItemNo=18">AP Photo/Karl B. DeBlaker</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Letting ‘amateurs’ profit from their name</h2>
<p>The NCAA <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/06/15/nil-ncaa-paying-college-athletes/">had long prohibited student athletes</a> from profiting off their image. The idea is grounded in the notion that they’re amateurs, not professionals. </p>
<p>Responding to growing calls to change the policy, the college sports governing body <a href="https://www.ncaa.org/news/2019/10/29/board-of-governors-starts-process-to-enhance-name-image-and-likeness-opportunities.aspx">agreed in 2019 to do so</a> and asked regional divisions to draft new rules and restrictions. Meanwhile, states, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/california-lawmakers-voted-to-let-ncaa-athletes-get-paid-its-unclear-whats-next/2019/09/10/80d0a324-d3e6-11e9-9343-40db57cf6abd_story.html">notably California</a>, were already passing laws to allow athletes to earn money off their names. </p>
<p>In June 2021, the Supreme Court <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18386472160721780784">ruled the NCAA couldn’t limit the kinds</a> of benefits universities offer students. That prompted the NCAA to simply drop the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2020/11/13/ncaa-nil-name-image-likeness-proposal/6281507002/">draft policy</a> governing name, image and likeness deals it had been working on rather than risk further litigation. </p>
<p>In doing so, the NCAA left it up to states or individual universities to establish their own rules. That opened the door for college athletes across the country to begin signing endorsement deals – as long as they don’t run afoul of rules at their school or in their state.</p>
<p>While the NCAA <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10849297194755368230">is considered a private entity</a> not bound by the First Amendment, states and public schools are. That means any restrictions they place on athletes’ endorsements – a form of commercial speech <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16793921065105715309">afforded some protection by the Constitution</a> – need to respect athletes’ free speech rights. </p>
<h2>The most problematic restrictions</h2>
<p>Broadly speaking, we see three types of restrictions that appear problematic. The first type prevents deals with brands that are rivals of one that already has a deal with a university. The second group forbids contracts with “vice” industries like alcohol and gambling. And the third prohibits partnerships with anything that might reflect poorly on the educational institution. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://governor.ky.gov/attachments/20210624_Executive-Order_2021-418_Student-Athletes.pdf">2021 Kentucky executive order</a> is an example of the first kind. The governor’s order, <a href="https://www.lanereport.com/153350/2022/03/name-image-likeness-is-now-law-in-kentucky/">now codified into law</a>, explicitly allows athletes to get paid for likeness deals unless the university determines it “is in conflict with an existing contract of endorsement, promotional or other activity entered by the postsecondary educational institution.” In other words, if the school already had an endorsement deal with a company, an athlete can’t sign one with a rival.</p>
<p>For example, athletes at the University of Kentucky, which <a href="https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article177171821.html">is sponsored by Nike</a>, legally can’t sign up for <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/23/adidas-announces-new-network-that-will-allow-more-than-50000-student-athletes-to-be-paid-ambassadors-.html">Adidas’ new program to share sales</a> of its products with student athletes who drive traffic to its website if Adidas wanted to open up this program to these athletes. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://wvusports.com/documents/2021/7/8//NIL_Policy_WVU_7_1_2021.pdf?id=21271">West Virginia University policy</a> illustrates the second restriction. The school’s guidelines, released on July 1, 2021, explicitly forbid athletes from deals associated with alcohol, gambling, banned substances, adult entertainment and other “vice” businesses. </p>
<p>The third kind poses what we believe are the most glaring First Amendment issues. An example of this is <a href="https://legiscan.com/MS/text/SB2313/id/2351829">Mississippi’s state law</a>, which flatly forbids athletes from signing deals with any product or service that is “reasonably considered to be inconsistent with the values or mission of a postsecondary educational institution or that negatively impacts or reflects adversely on a postsecondary education institution or its athletic programs.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young white man wearing a saint peter's basketball jersey uses a scissors to cut the net off of a basketball hoop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C0%2C4971%2C3258&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453951/original/file-20220323-21-1ywo6oh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Doug Edert won an endorsement deal with Buffalo Wild Wings for his part in taking Saint Peter’s to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MAACMonmouthStPetersBasketball/046016718b57458db7fe7ccbf2be7281/photo?Query=Doug%20edert&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=8&currentItemNo=6">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2 thorny legal issues</h2>
<p>Two legal concepts reveal the problems with these restrictions: “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/prior_restraint">prior restraint</a>” and “<a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1005/overbreadth">overbreadth</a>.”</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14051829728005364054">Courts</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10240616562166401834">are</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17571244799664973711">unanimous</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5179591971825287612">in their</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=200006">disapproval</a> when government entities – <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14594875101335864684">including public universities</a> – restrict speech before it happens, rather than punish speakers for objectionable and unprotected speech after it is made. </p>
<p>That’s why a prior restraint – like a policy that prevents athletes from signing certain types of endorsement deals - will be scrutinized more heavily by courts than if, say, a school simply forces an athlete to stop endorsing an objectionable product after the fact. While that doesn’t mean a prior restraint is never allowed, courts would require schools to show they have a very good reason to have the restriction.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15763855873494372375">Courts also don’t like it</a> when restrictions on speech are written too broadly, meaning that they affect speech other than the intended target. In the university context, you can see this legal concept in action in campus speech codes. For example, a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=500746032283305681">1995 appellate court ruling struck down</a> a Michigan school’s campus speech code because it gave university officials too much power to determine what is deemed offensive – which meant they could hypothetically use the policy to restrict the most protected form of speech: political speech. </p>
<p>All three restrictions listed above could potentially be broad enough to cover political speech. But it’s the third category that poses the biggest problems because of the vagueness of language like “reasonably considered to be inconsistent with the values or mission of a postsecondary educational institution or that negatively impacts or reflects adversely on a postsecondary education institution or its athletic programs.” Virtually any endorsement an athlete might consider could be deemed “inconsistent” with the values of a university. </p>
<p>It’s not surprising that schools wouldn’t want to be linked to a provocative company or a product they consider inappropriate. But granting administrators too much editorial power over the kinds of deals athletes are allowed to sign can easily stray into the kinds of areas that the Constitution explicitly protects. And a promise to use the power responsibly <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12907128943316010890">is unlikely to survive Supreme Court scrutiny</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, you’re asking athletes to trade their First Amendment freedoms in exchange for their newfound right to profit from their skills on the field or court. In our view, the Supreme Court is unlikely to find that an acceptable trade-off.</p>
<p>[<em>Science, politics, religion or just plain interesting articles:</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-checkoutweekly">Check out The Conversation’s weekly newsletters</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>States and universities have passed many rules governing what types of name, image and likeness deals athletes can sign. Most are innocuous, but three may violate their First Amendment rights.Sam C. Ehrlich, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, Boise State UniversityNeal Ternes, Assistant Professor, Arkansas State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1785162022-03-09T18:09:49Z2022-03-09T18:09:49ZWhy Apple, Disney, IKEA and hundreds of other Western companies are abandoning Russia with barely a shrug<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450817/original/file-20220308-17181-yumwpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=134%2C239%2C3761%2C2354&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muscovites rushed to buy furniture and other goods from IKEA before it closed its Russian stores.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaWarUkraineEconomy/bfef81caccce40939ef2963011fdafb2/photo?Query=russia%20close%20store&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=10&currentItemNo=7">AP Photo/Vladimir Kondrashov</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many companies in the U.S. and elsewhere have been quick to sever ties to Russia – going well beyond applying the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-28/sanctions-imposed-so-far-on-russia-from-the-u-s-eu-and-u-k">sanctions ordered by their governments</a>. </p>
<p>IKEA, Nike and H&M are <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/03/business/ikea-h-and-m-russia/index.html">temporarily closing their Russian stores</a>. Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/01/disney-and-warner-bros-pause-film-releases-in-russia-over-ukraine-invasion">paused the release of new films</a> in Russia. Apple, Samsung and Microsoft <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-microsoft-and-other-tech-companies-stop-sales-in-russia/">stopped selling their products there</a>. McKinsey, Ernst & Young and many other top <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-auditors-to-leave-russia-amid-invasion-of-ukraine-11646666419?mod=djemCFO">accounting</a> and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6c412673-d65e-4e75-adbb-08146c42387c">consulting firms</a> said they are leaving the Russian market – possibly for good. </p>
<p>In all, <a href="https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-200-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain">over 300 companies have announced plans</a> to close stores, reassign staff or stop selling products in Russia since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, according to a running tally by Yale management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Most recently, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/08/business/mcdonalds-pepsi-coke-russia/index.html">McDonald’s</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/08/business/stocks-economy-inflation-ukraine">Starbucks</a> and Coca-Cola joined the list on March 8, 2022, announcing they would close stores and cease sales.</p>
<p>In some ways, these decisions fit in with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-corporate-ceos-found-their-political-voice-83127">recent trend in which companies have increasingly staked out</a> public positions on often controversial social and political issues, such as restrictions on trans rights and ability to vote. As <a href="https://business.rice.edu/person/douglas-schuler">business professors</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=k7slUggAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">who study why</a> companies engage in activism, we feel the same factors that have driven those decisions to speak out are at work over Ukraine. </p>
<p>But we also believe Ukraine stands out for one important reason: For many of these companies, it may have been one of the easiest stands they’ve ever taken – even if there is a financial cost.</p>
<h2>Taking a stand</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0022242920937000">Corporate sociopolitical activism</a> – the technical term we use – entails companies making public declarations or taking actions about significant social or political issues that extend beyond their core business. </p>
<p>Until relatively recently, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-corporate-ceos-found-their-political-voice-83127">companies rarely took stands</a> on social or political issues. </p>
<p>That didn’t really change until the 2000s, when LBGTQ rights were under attack and major companies such as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-arkansas-analysis-idUSKBN0MT13E20150402">Walmart spoke out</a> against bills that would have allowed discrimination.</p>
<p>Since then, there’s been a <a href="https://qz.com/work/1797058/2020-is-the-year-corporate-activism-and-global-political-risk-converge/">surge in companies taking proactive stands</a> on issues ranging from climate activism and racism to abortion and voting rights. </p>
<p>For example, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis in 2020, hundreds of CEOs <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/11/ceos-unveil-plans-against-racial-inequality-after-george-floyd-death.html">signed a pledge</a> against racial discrimination and <a href="https://www.ceoaction.com/purpose/">created an organization dedicated</a> to diversity, equity and inclusion. In 2021, the CEOs of Dell, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and AT&T <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/02/983709091/these-are-the-businesses-speaking-out-against-texass-newly-proposed-election-law">spoke out against a Texas bill</a> aimed at making it more difficult for citizens to vote. </p>
<p>Others have taken more decisive action. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/08/1035045952/lyft-uber-will-pay-drivers-legal-fees-if-theyre-sued-under-texas-abortion-law">Uber and Lyft</a> said they would pay to defend their drivers if they got sued under a Texas law that allows anyone to sue a person who helps someone get an abortion. And in 2016, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/27/bathroom-bill-to-cost-north-carolina-376-billion.html">PayPal and the NCAA pulled business</a> from North Carolina after the state passed a bill limiting LGBTQ protections.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/great-expectations-navigating-challenging-stakeholder-expectations-of-brandsexpectations-of-brands">Surveys show</a> <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2021-11/ipsos-global-trends-2021-report.pdf">today’s consumers expect</a> <a href="https://www.5wpr.com/new/wp-content/uploads/pdf/5W_consumer_culture_report_2020final.pdf">companies to live up</a> to the <a href="https://certusinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Markstein-Social-Responsibility-_-Certus-Insights-Research-_.pdf">values they espouse</a> in their press releases, and big corporate groups such as the Business Roundtable even began <a href="https://www.businessroundtable.org/business-roundtable-redefines-the-purpose-of-a-corporation-to-promote-an-economy-that-serves-all-americans">urging companies</a> to focus on creating value for everyone – not just shareholders. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a crowd marches in a city street behind a banner that reads justice for George" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451007/original/file-20220309-20-12axmhb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many companies spoke out against racism after George Floyd’s murder inspired months of protests, like this one on the first anniversary of his death.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RacialInjustice-MinnesotaProtests/b9a714aa8e5c4a0d8981cff7ae70176f/photo?Query=George%20Floyd%20protest&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=11555&currentItemNo=113">AP Photo/Christian Monterrosa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why companies speak out</h2>
<p>More specifically, <a href="https://www.econbiz.de/Record/don-t-mix-business-with-politics-understanding-stakeholder-reactions-to-corporate-political-activism-appels-moritz/10012303252">research</a> has identified <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0084">three major factors</a> that typically drive a company’s decision to pursue corporate activism: employee beliefs, consumer pressure and the <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-new-ceo-activists">CEO’s personal involvement</a> or conviction. </p>
<p>It’s not always clear what is driving corporate decisions to suspend operations in Russia, but it seems as if all three factors are at play. </p>
<p>IKEA, for example, <a href="https://about.ikea.com/en/newsroom/2022/03/03/ikea-pauses-operations-in-russia-and-belarus">cited the support and security</a> of its workforce in announcing its “pause” in Russia and a donation of 20 million euros for humanitarian assistance for those displaced by the war. After a #BoycottMcDonald’s <a href="https://www.mashed.com/789748/heres-why-boycott-mcdonalds-is-trending-on-twitter/">began trending on Twitter</a> to protest its presence in Russia, the fast-food chain said it was temporarily closing its stores there. And Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22958373/ukraine-russia-starlink-spacex-elon-musk">agreed to provide Ukraine</a> with free satellite internet after a Ukrainian official requested it on Twitter. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People stand outside a restaurant-looking building with yellow arches spelling an M as they wait to eat McDonalds for the first time." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/450993/original/file-20220309-13-1co2myw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">McDonald’s has been in Russia since it opened its first store in Moscow in 1990.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussianMcDonalds1990/bdb02160f3c742118e8ef29ed8288b48/photo?Query=McDonald%27s%20russia&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=159&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A corporate no-brainer</h2>
<p>But ultimately, the decision whether or not to sever a relationship with a country – even if temporarily – is very different from taking a stand on an anti-trans measure.</p>
<p>Even so, the speed with which U.S. and other Western companies have abandoned Russia is something we’ve never seen in our lifetimes. And it suggests the decision was likely a no-brainer. </p>
<p>For one thing, Russia’s invasion has been met with widespread revulsion in the West. And even before the war, the public’s perception of Russia in Western countries <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/07/russia-and-putin-receive-low-ratings-globally">was very low</a>. </p>
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<p>One post-invasion poll found that 86% of Americans <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3837">saw the invasion as unjustified</a> – with broad bipartisan agreement – and another showed that half of the respondents would <a href="https://www.live5news.com/2022/03/07/poll-finds-majority-want-russian-oil-ban-divided-biden/">compare the actions of Vladimir Putin</a> with those of Adolf Hitler. </p>
<p>And governments including those like <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/german-chancellor-olaf-scholz-announces-paradigm-change-in-response-to-ukraine-invasion/a-60932652">Germany</a> that have close commercial ties to Russia have strongly condemned its actions and joined unprecedented sanctions. About 80% of Germans said they approved of their government’s decision to sanction Russia and export weapons to Ukraine – or said it didn’t go far enough.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the Russian market is just not that big for companies in the U.S, such as <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/03/04/what-apple-risks-by-stopping-all-sales-operations-in-russia">Apple</a> and <a href="https://deadline.com/2022/03/disney-ukraine-theme-parks-disneyplus-1234973007/">Disney</a>. For others, such as McDonald’s, which has been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-08/mcdonald-s-faces-tough-questions-with-large-exposure-to-russia?sref=Hjm5biAW">in Russia since 1990 and has about 850 locations there</a>, days of pressure finally persuaded company officials they had to pull out. </p>
<p>On many hot-button social issues like <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/350174/mixed-views-among-americans-transgender-issues.aspx">trans rights</a> and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/09/13/key-facts-about-americans-and-guns/">gun control</a>, the general public is split almost right down the middle, meaning taking a stand could alienate a lot of consumers. </p>
<p>But on the issue of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many companies likely were more worried about the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/mcdonalds-us-brands-pressure-stop-business-russia-rcna18990">risks to their reputation</a> were they to do nothing. With so many other companies pulling out, it likely seemed better to explain to shareholders and customers back home <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/02/business/companies-pulling-back-russia-ukraine-war-intl-hnk/index.html">why they’re leaving</a> than <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60660006">why they’re staying</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over 300 companies so far have closed stores, reassigned staff or halted sales in Russia in the two weeks since the invasion began.Douglas Schuler, Associate Professor of Business and Public Policy, Rice UniversityLaura Marie Edinger-Schons, Professor of Sustainable Business, University of MannheimLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1640382021-07-23T12:15:40Z2021-07-23T12:15:40ZWhat would the ancient Greeks think of an Olympics with no fans?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412725/original/file-20210722-17-fsy5rt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C7%2C4862%2C3248&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In ancient Greece, the heart and soul of the festival was the experience shared by all who attended.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXOlympicsTokyoTestEvent/e84cff78e2444d3599282d4b5a3a48d6/photo?Query=(headline:APTOPIX%20OR%20slug:APTOPIX)%20AND%20Tokyo%20Olympics%20stadium&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=30&currentItemNo=9">AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Because of a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases, the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2021 Olympics will unfold in a stadium <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/world/asia/tokyo-state-of-emergency-olympics.html">absent the eyes, ears and voices</a> of a once-anticipated 68,000 ticket holders from around the world. Events during the intervening days will likewise occur in silent arenas missing the hundreds of thousands of spectators who paid US$815 million for their <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/sports/olympics/tokyo-olympics-ticket-refunds.html">now-useless tickets</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1003238">After 48 years teaching classics</a>, I can’t help but wonder what the Greeks – who invented the Games nearly 3,000 years ago, in 776 B.C. – would make of such a ghostly version of their Olympic festival.</p>
<p>In many ways, they’d view the prospect as absurd.</p>
<p>In ancient Greece, the Olympics were never solely about the athletes themselves; instead, the heart and soul of the festival was the experience shared by all who attended. Every four years, athletes and spectators traveled from far-flung corners of the Greek-speaking world to Olympia, lured by a longing for contact with their compatriots and their gods. </p>
<h2>In the shadow of dreams</h2>
<p>For the Greeks, during five days in the late-summer heat, two worlds miraculously merged at Olympia: the domain of everyday life, with its human limits, and a supernatural sphere from the days superior beings, gods and heroes populated Earth. </p>
<p>Greek athletics, like today’s, plunged participants into performances that pushed the envelope of human ability to its breaking point. But to the Greeks, the cauldron of competition could trigger revelations in which ordinary mortals might briefly intermingle with the extraordinary immortals. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/pindar">The poet Pindar</a>, famous for the victory songs he composed for winners at Olympia, captured this sort of transcendent moment <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Pind.+P.+8&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162">when he wrote</a>, “Humans are creatures of a day. But what is humankind? What is it not? A human is just the shadow of a dream – but when a flash of light from Zeus comes down, a shining light falls on humans and their lifetime can be sweet as honey.”</p>
<p>However, these epiphanies could occur only if witnesses were physically present to immerse themselves – and share in – the spine-tingling flirtation with the divine. </p>
<p>Simply put, Greek athletics and religious experience were inseparable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The ruins – which include an intact section of the arched entrance tunnel – of the Greek Stadium of Olympia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412729/original/file-20210722-27-1wrz6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Crypt, the entrance to the Stadium of Olympia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-crypt-entrance-to-the-stadium-of-olympia-greece-greek-news-photo/587760609?adppopup=true">DeAgostini/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At Olympia, both athletes and spectators were making a pilgrimage to a sacred place. A modern Olympics can legitimately take place in any city selected by the International Olympic Committee. But the ancient games could occur in only one location in western Greece. The most profoundly moving events didn’t even occur in the stadium that accommodated 40,000 or in the wrestling and boxing arenas. </p>
<p>Instead, they took place in a grove <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/517/">called the Althis</a>, where Hercules is said to have first erected an altar, sacrificed oxen to Zeus and planted a wild olive tree. Easily half the events during the festival engrossed spectators not in feats like discus, javelin, long jump, foot race and wrestling, but in feasts <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/olympic-self-sacrifice">where animals were sacrificed</a> to gods in heaven and long-dead heroes whose spirits still lingered. </p>
<p>On the evening of the second day, thousands gathered in the Althis to reenact the <a href="http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TP022EN.html">funeral rites of Pelops</a>, a human hero who once raced a chariot to win a local chief’s daughter. But the climactic sacrifice was on the morning of the third day at the <a href="https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/greekpast/4905.html">Great Altar of Zeus</a>, a mound of plastered ashes from previous sacrifices that stood 22 feet tall and 125 feet around. <a href="https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/health/sport-and-fitness/the-ancient-olympics-bridging-past-and-present/content-section-7">In a ritual called the hecatomb</a>, 100 bulls were slaughtered and their thigh bones, wrapped in fat, burned atop the altar so that the rising smoke and aroma would reach the sky where Zeus could savor it. </p>
<p>No doubt many a spectator shivered at the thought of Zeus hovering above them, smiling and remembering Hercules’ first sacrifice.</p>
<p>Just a few yards from the Great Altar another, more visual encounter with the god awaited. <a href="https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/uploads/media/hesperia/25067954.pdf">In the Temple of Zeus</a>, which was erected around 468 to 456 B.C., stood a colossal image, 40 feet high, of the god on a throne, his skin carved from ivory and his clothing made of gold. In one hand he held the elusive goddess of victory, Nike, and in the other a staff on which his sacred bird, the eagle, perched. The towering statue was reflected in <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Statue_of_Zeus_at_Olympia/">a shimmering pool of olive oil</a> surrounding it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Ruins surround a lone pillar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412716/original/file-20210722-19-7n5tml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The remains of the Ancient Temple of Zeus at Olympia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-ancient-temple-of-zeus-at-olympia-royalty-free-image/552042863?adppopup=true">SPC#JAYJAY/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During events, the athletes performed in the nude, imitating heroic figures like Hercules, Theseus or Achilles, who all crossed the dividing line between human and superhuman and were usually represented nude in painting and sculpture.</p>
<p>The athletes’ nudity declared to spectators that in this holy place, contestants hoped to reenact, in the ritual of sport, the shudder of contact with divinity. In the Althis stood a forest of <a href="https://www.greek-thesaurus.gr/Ancient-Olympia-the-sanctuary.html">hundreds of nude statues of men and boys</a>, all previous victors whose images set the bar for aspiring newcomers. </p>
<p>“There are a lot of truly marvelous things one can see and hear about in Greece,” the Greek travel writer <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+5.10.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160">Pausanias noted in the second century B.C.</a>, “but there is something unique about how the divine is encountered at … the games at Olympia.”</p>
<h2>Communion and community</h2>
<p>The Greeks lived in roughly <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/greek-city-states/">1,500 to 2,000 small-scale states</a> scattered across the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. </p>
<p>Since sea travel in summertime was the only viable way to cross this fragile geographical web, the Olympics might entice a Greek living in Southern Europe and another residing in modern-day Ukraine to interact briefly in a festival celebrating not only Zeus and Heracles but also the Hellenic language and culture that produced them. </p>
<p>Besides athletes, poets, philosophers and orators came to perform before crowds that included politicians and businessmen, with everyone communing in an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_feeling">“oceanic feeling”</a> of what it meant to be momentarily united as Greeks.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/412727/original/file-20210722-19-s2friq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A detail of a Greek cauldron depicts spectators cheering on a chariot race.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/69716881@N02/24553835868">Egisto Sani/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now, there’s no way we could explain the miracle of TV to the Greeks and how its electronic eye recruits millions of spectators to the modern games by proxy. But visitors to Olympia engaged in a distinct type of spectating.</p>
<p>The ordinary Greek word for someone who observes – “theatês” – connects not only to “theater” but also to “<a href="https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/spectacles-of-truth-in-classical-greek-philosophy-theoria-in-its-cultural-context/">theôria</a>,” a special kind of seeing that requires a journey from home to a place where something wondrous unfolds. Theôria opens a door into the sacred, whether it’s visiting an oracle or participating in a religious cult.</p>
<p>Attending an athletic-religious festival like the Olympics transformed an ordinary spectator, a theatês, into a theôros – a witness observing the sacred, an ambassador reporting home the wonders observed abroad. </p>
<p>It’s hard to imagine TV images from Tokyo achieving similar ends.</p>
<p>No matter how many world records are broken and unprecedented feats accomplished at the 2020 games, the empty arenas will attract no gods or genuine heroes: The Tokyo games are even less enchanted than previous modern games.</p>
<p>But while medal counts will confer fleeting glory on some nations and disappointing shame on others, perhaps a dramatic moment or two might unite athletes and TV viewers in an oceanic feeling of what it means to be “kosmopolitai,” citizens of the world, celebrants of the wonder of what it means to be human – and perhaps, briefly, superhuman as well.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The ancient Greeks wouldn’t recognize some aspects of the modern Olympics.</span></figcaption>
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<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vincent Farenga is Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature at USC.</span></em></p>Athletes and spectators were lured to Olympia by a longing for contact with their compatriots and their gods.Vincent Farenga, Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1639552021-07-13T14:37:47Z2021-07-13T14:37:47ZVictoria’s Secret joins the ‘inclusive revolution,’ finally realizing diversity sells<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410424/original/file-20210708-25-hvedm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C4962%2C3315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Victoria's Secret we've become accustomed to is no more. The brand has finally realized that diversity sells.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Andy Wong) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-06-17/victorias-secret-rebrand-influencers-angels">Victoria’s Secret recently announced a cast of new “angels.”</a> They include American athlete Megan Rapinoe, actress and activist Priyanka Chopra Jonas and the brand’s first transgender model, Vanetina Sampaio. Together, they speak to a far more diverse image of beauty than was common for the once popular company. </p>
<p>Victoria’s Secret learned a lesson other leading fashion brands and the industry at large are coming to realize: diversity sells.</p>
<h2>Better representation</h2>
<p>This isn’t surprising. For years, consumers have <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/news-analysis/fashions-long-road-to-inclusivity">called for greater inclusion and better representation in mainstream fashion</a>. And the industry’s most avant-garde players have already responded, including <a href="https://www.theroot.com/rihannas-savage-x-fenty-show-is-a-masterclass-in-divers-1845252031">Rihanna’s much talked about Savage X Fenty</a> and <a href="https://people.com/style/summersalt-beach-body-campaign/">Summersalt’s “every body is a beach body”</a> campaign. </p>
<p>Consumers are willing to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/aeries-latest-inclusive-campaign-featuring-women-with-disabilities-and-medical-conditions-praised-online">back brands that feature diversity with their praise</a> and more importantly, their dollars. </p>
<p>In the last two years, fashion brands like <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/business/tommy-hilfiger-commits-to-diversity-with-people-s-place-program/2020071349808">Tommy Hilfiger</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/flyease-adaptive-fashion-1.6026277">Nike</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleykohan/2020/06/28/aeos-aerie-brand-built-on-body-positivity-and-inclusion-is-slowly-edging-out-sexy-supermodel-juggernaut-victorias-secret/">lingerie competitor Aerie</a> all made efforts toward greater inclusion. They feature plus-size models, transgender models and models with disabilities in their stores and online campaigns. </p>
<p>Each brand has been rewarded with public kudos and a flurry of consumer purchases. Yet others in the industry lagged. Despite Victoria’s Secret’s latest inclusion and diversity efforts, models with disabilities were missing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Women with diverse bodies wear bikinis and hold signs that read 'fashion for every body' and 'We want diversity on our runways.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410442/original/file-20210708-19-h1k2jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Undressed activists in swimsuits with posters that read ‘fashion for every body’ and ‘We want diversity on our runways’ on the street during London Fashion Week in 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Embarking on diversity initiatives</h2>
<p>According to our new study, <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F14695405211022074">A model who looks like me: Communicating and consuming representations of disability</a></em>, the $3 trillion fashion industry has, until recently, paid little attention to gender, sexuality, race and disability. </p>
<p>We ask how and why the industry almost suddenly embarked on diversity initiatives. </p>
<p>We focus our attention on disability because it’s traditionally seen as <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/02/13/why-disabled-people-have-been-forgotten-by-the-fashion-industry">inconsistent with fashion</a>. The industry largely saw a person with disabilities as someone who can’t embody, reflect or convey beauty. In other words, disability would turn off consumers.</p>
<p>Our analysis over five years of three mainstream fashion magazines - <em>Vogue</em>, <em>InStyle</em> and <em>Harper’s Bazaar</em> - revealed not a single person with a disability appearing on the cover. A look at 2,500 ads in <em>InStyle</em> turned up similarly little. </p>
<p>So we turned to the recent and well-known Nike, Aerie and Tommy Hilfiger campaigns that featured a diverse cast of models, including those with a range of visible and non-visible disabilities.</p>
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<p>Tommy Hilfiger’s campaign went a step further. The brand developed <a href="https://usa.tommy.com/en/tommy-adaptive">adaptive clothing specifically designed for people with disabilities</a> — a step few others have taken. </p>
<p>This inclusion, though hugely important, often comes with more “sanitized” depictions of disability – creating images thought to be “more palatable” to consumers. </p>
<p>We found that editorials often reinforced distinctions between “ability” and disability, suggesting that disability is something to be overcome. For example, when athletes were praised for pushing the limitations of their disability. Sometimes, no photos of people with disabilities were included in editorials about them. When models with disabilities were included, they were often treated as too unremarkable to dress in brands referenced by the magazine’s editorial staff. </p>
<h2>Disability, diversity and inclusion efforts</h2>
<p>So why has disability become a more significant part of the fashion industry’s diversity and inclusion efforts?</p>
<p>Some brands take the leap, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahkim/2020/01/31/aerie-disability-representation/?sh=329e933250bd">challenging beliefs about potential consumer backlash</a>. They lower perceived risk as other brands follow suit. Risk, though, is also lessened when <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/tommy-hilfiger-spring-2018-adaptive-collection">consumers respond favourably to more inclusive initiatives</a>, sending a message to the industry at large. </p>
<p>We analyzed more than 200 online consumer comments about <em>Teen Vogue’s</em> “<a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/jillian-mercado-runway-debut">The New Faces of Fashion</a>” campaign that featured three models with disabilities: Chelsea Werner, Mama Cax and Jillian Mercado. We found that an overwhelming majority of consumers gave praise and admiration. </p>
<p>One viewer thanked <em>Teen Vogue</em> for “making great changes.” Another, eager for inclusion, wrote: “Let’s see this on a regular basis, please.” Brands like Dove Beauty and <em>Allure</em> left comments on the magazine’s Instagram page.</p>
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<p>In response to <em>Allure’s</em> praise, one viewer called on the magazine to “join the Inclusion Revolution too.” It wasn’t long after that Allure announced its own series on “<a href="https://www.allure.com/topic/the-beauty-of-accessibility">the beauty of accessibility</a>,” positioning Ellie Goldstein, a young model with Down syndrome, on the cover of their digital print magazine.</p>
<h2>Poised for a reboot</h2>
<p>Away from social media and after more than a year in lockdown, the fashion industry is poised for a reboot. Couturiers <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/dior-show-celebrates-fashion-up-close-personal-after-pandemic-2021-07-05/">like Dior</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jul/06/begin-again-chanel-returns-first-major-live-shows-pandemic-paris-haute-couture">Chanel have convened</a> in Paris for the industry’s first set of in-person shows since the pandemic began. </p>
<p>As Victoria’s Secret and others set about reimagining the world that will be, we wonder what the “inclusion revolution” will look like — and whether people with disabilities will continue to be part of it. </p>
<p>We should look to industry leaders for signs of lasting change, but consumers matter too. They must continue demanding that fashion and beauty brands engage meaningfully with their efforts towards diversity and inclusion. </p>
<p>These demands will need to move beyond casting calls and runway models. They must include boardrooms and brand teams – those who ultimately influence and make decisions about what consumers see and purchase.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163955/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Pettinicchio receives funding from SSHRC</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jordan Foster receives funding from the Government of Ontario and from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Victoria’s Secret learned a lesson other leading fashion brands and the industry at large are coming to realize: diversity sells. But when it comes to disability, brands aren’t quite there yet.David Pettinicchio, Associate Professor, Sociology, University of TorontoJordan Foster, PhD Student, Sociology, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1627772021-06-17T14:28:09Z2021-06-17T14:28:09ZGender washing: seven kinds of marketing hypocrisy about empowering women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407045/original/file-20210617-12-zgs0pm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'We're all about you.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/digital-art-painting-illustration-business-man-564387154">jesadaphorn</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At a time of so much focus on how women are held back and treated unfairly, corporations spend multiple millions telling us what they are doing to empower women and girls. When this makes them seem more women-friendly than they really are, it’s known as gender washing. </p>
<p>Gender washing comes in different varieties, and some can be easier to spot than others. To help identify them, it can be useful to look at the decades of research on corporate greenwashing – that better known variant related to climate change. </p>
<p>Inspired by a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1086026615575332?casa_token=CkZLSpkmkJEAAAAA%3A3VRqewkRzQLKk-_unLf4GtR79bhvVs_n2WQvkUOSBmkHL65U4r61f3H0Gk4lnYoXVO6zakPwuqF-">2015 paper</a> that identified seven varieties of greenwashing, I have published <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2021.1935295">a new paper</a> that classifies seven kinds of questionable corporate claims about empowering women and girls.</p>
<p><strong>1. Selective disclosure</strong></p>
<p>When corporations publicise improvements in, say, female boardroom representation, or the gender pay gap, while omitting contradictory or inconvenient information, it’s known as selective disclosure. </p>
<p>For example, pharma group Novartis frequently features on <a href="http://www.workingmother.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-working-mother-surveys">Working Mother</a> magazine’s annual list of the 100 best companies to work for, via an application highlighting the progress it has made in employment practices towards women. Novartis also proudly cites its support for Working Mother, per the tweet below. Yet as recently as 2010, <a href="https://sanfordheisler.com/case/novartis-pharmaceutical-gender-discrimination-class-action/">the corporation lost</a> the then largest gender pay, promotion and pregnancy discrimination case ever to go to trial.</p>
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<p><strong>2. Empty gender policies</strong></p>
<p>Some companies take initiatives to raise women’s voices internally which, in reality, have little impact. For example, “women’s networks” aim to increase female employees’ confidence and help them build leadership skills through networking events and mentoring schemes. But critics argue that such networks are frequently ignored, and don’t address the underlying causes of discrimination or engage men in efforts to tackle institutional sexism. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13678860500100517?casa_token=M6YF6dfj4GIAAAAA%3AwdsPPMRVIE-QT5d1MYLntVdVKfhZOGc94oxNezrrjgiqznM-73LO8ydW1qe5ORZMTjw_qy0zL7db">One study</a> from 2007 found that the members of one company’s women’s network feared it might actually damage their career prospects because at the time, it was ridiculed by male colleagues as a forum for “male-bashing” and exchanging recipes. </p>
<p><strong>3. Dubious labelling</strong></p>
<p>The promotional placement of the pink breast cancer awareness ribbon by brands with products containing known carcinogens or other arguably risky ingredients is an example of this third kind of gender washing. There are examples involving <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0891243214540991?casa_token=dqmpBlAII48AAAAA%3A5JsfDEKId7AeXO38mGCyQhEjfpOrEHbz0UjdPvV4obekV7Y9SwMkV_ph_HpwraxPS684OhKm-br8">makeup</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.13035?casa_token=o0KFdzhtj4cAAAAA%3ALae1SGdaHxKGOFJLRfSbP54SJ1MJbKoIDZUsIATvk4uN_Yev0OXNqtGI4x1W9ZGMxpCqZyDEjdCFVQ">alcoholic drinks</a> and even <a href="https://nca.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0033563032000160981?casa_token=PohNuVZfFXcAAAAA:wF0QhHKQjQnrYsPYDEO1aM8AcafVEytoksKjfONbNaRUAA0_QZHq3m-BP4JYu6wip1ujv8rlmrSd#.YMCIHPnduUk">pesticides</a>.</p>
<p>The pink ribbon can also gender wash the objectification of women. For example, US bar chain Hooters has built its entire brand around waitresses with voluptuous breasts and skimpy clothing. In the company logo, the two Os are replaced by the eyes of an owl, symbolising breasts to be stared at, wide-eyed. Yet, once a year for breast cancer awareness month, the eyes are replaced by pink ribbons as Hooters invites customers to “give a hoot” for breast cancer awareness. Staring is thus rebranded as caring.</p>
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<p><strong>4. Useful partnerships</strong></p>
<p>One way in which a corporation’s image could be gender-washed is to associate with a feminist, women’s or girls’ organisation through funding or some other assistance. The corporation gets to place its logo on the organisation’s marketing materials, potentially distracting from practices elsewhere. </p>
<p>For example, Dove has partnered with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts on a <a href="https://free-being-me.com/downloads/">teaching resource</a> aimed at helping girls to question dominant beauty standards that damage their self-esteem. This is despite the beauty industry - of which Dove is part - <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/528849">perpetuating those standards</a> to sell products.</p>
<p><strong>5. Voluntary codes</strong></p>
<p>When rights abuses emerge in global supply chains – often most affecting female workers in the global south – there are often demands for tighter regulation of corporate behaviour. One way for corporations <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20097949?casa_token=gcBe12TotnkAAAAA%3A6rIR07PA5rkuCE5U80VB0p6ZAOZOaIDycef6zjTJTlz52HbjeswM1n64hRwienr7SoLnpBqk0TlNOiihqLVWg0Ph25Omg-n4DLnW8OyYzp3W6huPBNo&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">to respond</a> and potentially deflect such demands is by creating voluntary codes of practice. Their very voluntariness is presented by corporations as evidence of a commitment to empowering workers – particularly women.</p>
<p>Voluntary codes rarely lead to meaningful improvements. For example, when the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed in 2013, over 1,000 garment factory workers died, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-018-3798-1">some 80%</a> of them women. In the aftermath, the voluntary Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was established and <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/our-commitment-to-the-workers-of-bangladesh">promoted by</a> western retailers such as Walmart as improving safety and empowering female factory workers. Yet crucially, there were no <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-018-4080-2">legally binding commitments</a> to prevent another disaster, and the alliance was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/31/rana-plaza-bangladesh-collapse-fashion-working-conditions">later criticised</a> by activists and researchers for not improving conditions quickly enough.</p>
<p><strong>6. Changing the narrative</strong></p>
<p>Corporations can position themselves as global leaders on issues where they have previously been found wanting. For example in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Nike <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021943610389752?casa_token=dVWU3tTcZ1EAAAAA:yvP7HaS5wP6xHUD19QyhYlB7BCBO1GmMNpa02N6DtRZYyQcfSE6wycw8-4JpQZ-LqrG1Ybnnb7R3">was dogged</a> by claims of child labour, sexual and physical abuse among workers at supplier factories, 90% of whom were female. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021943610389752">Nike’s response</a> included establishing a division of corporate responsibility and setting up the Nike Foundation. One of the foundation’s flagship campaigns was the Girl Effect, launched in 2008 to persuade global elites to invest in girls’ education in the global south. </p>
<p>The campaign quickly went viral, and was soon partnering with the UK’s Department for International Development on programmes to empower girls in the global south. Nike had gone from a brand tarnished by accusations of child labour and exploitation to a trusted partner in international efforts to promote girls’ rights.</p>
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<p><strong>7. Reassuring branding</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.chiquita.com/">Chiquita Banana</a>, the famous logo of Chiquita Brands Corporation, might give shoppers in the global north the impression of buying their bananas from a happy, Latina market woman cheerfully selling her wares. </p>
<p>Yet feminist scholars <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=16kwDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=cynthia+enloe+bananas+beaches+bases&ots=1Oyi5OdiuL&sig=ijIFpEmVipKmlHAE_t56ey2keZs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=cynthia%20enloe%20bananas%20beaches%20bases&f=false">have documented</a> the long history of Chiquita – formerly the United Fruit Company – exploiting women on banana plantations in Latin America and the Caribbean. This includes past cases of <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230289673_3">sexual harassment, discrimination</a>, exposure to harmful chemicals, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/jcorpciti.21.85?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">and violations</a> of childcare and maternity rights. </p>
<p>Does all of this matter? If corporations want to take up the cause of gender equality, is that so bad? It is true that some women and girls do find ways within gender washing campaigns to make gains, but we can’t lose sight of <a href="https://theconversation.com/feminism-washing-are-multinationals-really-empowering-women-120353">the bigger picture</a>. </p>
<p>If a corporation’s employment practices, supply chains or products are harmful to women and girls, and it sells more products thanks to gender washing, then this has increased the harm done. That is why it is so important to identify and call out forms of gender washing whenever we see them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162777/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosie Walters receives funding from the ESRC, and is a member of the Women's Equality Party. </span></em></p>How companies love to tell us all the great things they’re doing to help women.Rosie Walters, Lecturer in International Relations, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463012020-09-20T19:41:52Z2020-09-20T19:41:52ZAthlete activism or corporate woke washing? Getting it right in the age of Black Lives Matter is a tough game<p>So-called brand activism is evolving fast. When Colin Kaepernick first knelt during the US national anthem in 2016, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/52948942#:%7E:text=1%20September%2C%202016,by%20team%2Dmate%20Eric%20Reid.">professional football turned its back on him</a>. Now, consumer and sports fan expectations are forcing brands to see activism as <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-09-02/taking-a-knee-once-career-poison-now-seen-as-good-for-business">good for business</a>.</p>
<p>According to a recent <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/07/nielsen-sports-blm-Infographic.pdf">Nielsen survey</a>, 72% of sports fans believe athletes are an important influence in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. A whopping 59% expect athletes to engage personally with BLM activism. </p>
<p>In short, if brands aren’t taking a stand (or a knee), <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/05/motorsport/f1-austrian-grand-prix-drivers-kneel-and-stand-hamilton-bottas-spt-intl">consumers notice.</a></p>
<p>Sporting codes have woken up to the benefits of strategically targeting a younger, more racially-diverse demographic. As National Hockey League (NHL) executive vice president for social impact Kim Davis <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/sports/hockey/nhl-racism-protests-george-floyd.html">put it</a>:</p>
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<p>People understand that doing the right thing is also right for the business.</p>
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<p>After the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/jacob-blake-shooting-what-we-know/index.html">shooting of Jacob Blake</a> by Kenosha police, however, that activism ramped up. Players from most major professional sports protested by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/27/us/nba-mlb-wnba-strike-sports/index.html">refusing to play</a> at all. </p>
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<h2>Brand activism cuts both ways</h2>
<p>It began with local NBA team the Milwaukee Bucks, whose own player Sterling Brown had been <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/2018/6/21/17481748/infinite-sadness-sterling-brown-lawsuit-wisconsin-milwaukee-bucks-nba">brutally beaten by police in 2018</a>. Having refused to take the court for a playoff game, the team’s actions were <a href="https://izea.com/2020/09/02/nba-bucks-trend-brandgraph/">picked up</a> by social media and the no-play protest spread to other sports. </p>
<p>The backlash and praise were immediate, with the Bucks becoming the <a href="https://izea.com/2020/09/02/nba-bucks-trend-brandgraph/">most mentioned</a> brand on social media that week. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/woke-washing-what-happens-when-marketing-communications-dont-match-corporate-practice-108035">Woke washing: what happens when marketing communications don't match corporate practice</a>
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<p>There were <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/nfl-boycotts-from-both-sides-over-anthem-protests/">asymmetric effects</a> for the team brand: a clear drop in brand sentiment from those who disagreed with their stand, and a surge of brand love driven by the backlash. </p>
<p>Whereas brands might once have avoided controversy, there is now a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167811620300264">clear case</a> for taking a stand — as the NHL discovered when it continued to play while other sports “went dark”. The <a href="https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/08/27/nhl-black-lives-matter-protests-critics/">backlash</a> from fans and players alike forced the cancellation of two days’ play.</p>
<p>Similarly, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) took a stand by not playing for one day after player Naomi Osaka <a href="https://www.insider.com/naomi-osaka-wears-black-lives-matter-shirt-opts-into-tournament-2020-8">threatened not to compete</a> in the Western & Southern Open semifinals in Cincinnati. She explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Osaka went on to win the US Open, and was <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/2020-09-14-naomi-osaka-praised-for-sport-excellence-and-support-for-blm-at-us-open/">praised</a> for donning protective face masks with the names of seven black people killed by police. There was also criticism that a one-day break in play, without further commitment, did little to further the BLM cause. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brands-may-support-black-lives-matter-but-advertising-still-needs-to-decolonise-133394">Brands may support Black Lives Matter, but advertising still needs to decolonise</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But accusations of virtue signalling and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915620947359">woke washing</a> put the ATP between a rock and a hard place. If tennis officials hadn’t engaged in some way with the moment, they risked being called out for insensitivity (as were the NHL and <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/blm-michael-holding-condemns-england-and-australias-lame-excuses-for-not-taking-a-knee-12068742">some cricket teams</a>). </p>
<h2>In business we trust</h2>
<p>It may not be surprising that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915620947359">brand activism</a> is increasingly being <a href="https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/championing-change-in-the-age-of-social-media/#brands-have-found-a-voice-on-social-media">driven by consumers</a> demanding they take a stand (and condemning those who don’t), as some studies now show businesses are <a href="https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2019-06/2019_edelman_trust_barometer_special_report_in_brands_we_trust.pdf">more trusted than government</a>. </p>
<p>We may be reaching a point where it is more surprising to consumers when brands don’t take a stand on social issues than when they do.</p>
<p>In 2018, consumers responded <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/09/13/colin-kaepernicks-nike-ad-campaign-gets-more-yeahs-than-nays-from-young-people/">extremely positively</a>
to Nike’s now-iconic Black Lives Matter campaign with Colin Kaepernick. Now the brand has an established pro-social reputation, however, the response to recent anti-racism action has been more muted. </p>
<p>Nike’s <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/31/business/nike-video-ad-you-cant-stop-us/index.html">You Can’t Stop Us</a> campaign and its <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/11/business/nike-juneteenth-holiday-trnd/index.html">declaration</a> of Juneteenth as an annual paid company holiday have been met with a positive but noticeably milder reaction from consumers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/black-lives-matter-lgbtq-rights-trump-the-risks-and-rewards-of-corporate-activism-142540">Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Surprise is no longer a strategy</h2>
<p>Nike was just one of <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article243578507.html">many brands</a> to declare Juneteenth a holiday in the US (along with Google, Lyft, The New York Times, JCPenney, the NFL, Tumblr and Postmates). As our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915620947359">research</a> suggests, such acts are simply not as surprising in 2020 as they once were. </p>
<p>As brand activism becomes more widespread, consumers’ appreciation of it also becomes more sophisticated — to the point where it is a <a href="https://hbr.org/2002/09/three-questions-you-need-to-ask-about-your-brand">key component</a> of brand loyalty. </p>
<p>However, while consumers expect brands to take a stand, many also believe social issues are used too often as a <a href="https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2019-06/2019_edelman_trust_barometer_special_report_in_brands_we_trust.pdf">marketing ploy</a>.</p>
<p>The challenge for brands is clear: practice what you preach, make a real difference, pay more than lip service to causes. Staying relevant has never been harder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146301/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Brands taking a stand on social issues is no longer remarkable — but that only makes it harder to be authentic.Jessica Vredenburg, Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyAmanda Spry, Lecturer of Marketing, RMIT UniversityJoya Kemper, Lecturer in Marketing, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauSommer Kapitan, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1452342020-08-29T00:37:30Z2020-08-29T00:37:30ZLet’s call athletes ‘workers,’ and let’s call these NBA protests what they were – strikes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355374/original/file-20200828-25-p2kq6w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C32%2C5431%2C3604&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When NBA players refused to take the court, athlete activism escalated to a new level.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/wide-angle-view-of-the-arena-before-the-game-against-the-news-photo/1228217960?adppopup=true">Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Milwaukee Bucks’ startling refusal to take to the court for their NBA playoff game on Aug. 26 was the most consequential political development in sports over the last 50 years. </p>
<p>In recent years, the prevailing media narrative is that athletes have routinely used their <a href="http://panthernow.com/2018/01/09/leading-way-professional-athletes-use-platform-civil-rights-activism/">platforms</a> to “<a href="https://medium.com/@depau016/athletes-and-their-use-of-social-media-to-raise-awareness-b4d832f619c8">raise awareness</a>” or “<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/sports-strikes-police-brutality-180975679/">bring attention</a>” to a social issue. </p>
<p>Awareness, though, has its limits. Rarely does it lead to the kind of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/7/7/21293259/police-racism-violence-ideology-george-floyd">structural changes</a> the shooting by police of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin seems to demand. </p>
<p>In this case, the players met the moment, marking a fundamental shift in the direction of activism generated by Black athletes. The mass player walkouts that followed the Bucks’ initial protest were no exercise in awareness, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/enough-is-enough-by-walking-out-bucks-show-what-it-looks-like-for-nba-players-to-use-their-platform/">though some commentators framed it as that way</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, these athletes were, in effect, going on strike – and showing the world just how much economic leverage they could wield. </p>
<h2>Pressure builds</h2>
<p>When I began studying Black protest speech in sports around <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt12f5df">10 years ago</a>, athlete activism <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/books/review/23goldstein.html">appeared to be in decline</a>. </p>
<p>Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods had become marketing demigods, bringing sports into the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165581.Michael_Jordan_and_the_New_Global_Capitalism">rarefied circuits of global capitalism</a>. By signing increasingly lucrative endorsement deals with risk-averse corporate partners, Black athletes, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Forty_Million_Dollar_Slaves.html?id=x7i1pIm17RsC">critics argued</a>, were trading their conscience for the promise of wealth.</p>
<p>The narrative, however, began to change around 2012, when the Miami Heat <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/story/_/id/7728618/miami-heat-don-hoodies-response-death-teen-trayvon-martin">posed in hoodies</a> for a widely circulated photograph meant to protest the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida. </p>
<p>Two years later, athlete activism accelerated when the Los Angeles Clippers <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2014/04/27/donald-sterling-clippers-silent-protest-game-4-warriors">demonstrated against</a> their team owner, Donald Sterling, for making racist comments. NBA stars wore T-shirts that said “<a href="https://time.com/3624684/lebron-james-i-cant-breathe-eric-garner/">I Can’t Breathe</a>” to protest the killing of Eric Garner’s by police in New York. And five St. Louis Rams players <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/11963218/the-five-st-louis-rams-players-saluted-slain-teenager-michael-brown-sunday-game-not-fined">raised their hands</a> in “don’t shoot” poses to bring attention to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Vice Sports declared 2014 “<a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wn3adm/2014-the-year-of-the-activist-athlete">the year of the activist athlete</a>.” </p>
<p>Then, in 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the anthem to protest police brutality, ultimately becoming the avatar for the activist athlete. By the time the NFL’s biggest stars shot a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RReoGr6S2ZM">#BlackLivesMatter video</a> in the summer of 2020 to protest the murder of George Floyd, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/24/roger-goodell-wishes-nfl-had-listened-earlier-colin-kaepernick/">was admitting</a> that “we should have listened earlier,” despite having overseen Kaepernick’s effective banishment three years earlier. </p>
<p>Yet professional athletes’ reliance on Twitter, Instagram and T-shirts often falls short. Yes, they have an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723517719665">enormous platform for political speech</a> and can often use social media to bypass traditional outlets. But thanks to their relationship with sponsors, advertisers and TV networks, professional sports leagues have an even bigger one. </p>
<p>This gives sports executives like Goodell the power to lead from behind, making the athletes’ message their own. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most cynical use of this technique came in 2017, after Donald Trump said that NFL players who kneel during the national anthem <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/22/politics/donald-trump-alabama-nfl/index.html">ought to be fired</a>. When the Dallas Cowboys expressed their desire to kneel in solidarity, they were <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/nfl-all-22-week-3-did-cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-kneel-with-players-for-the-right-reasons/">joined arm-in-arm</a> by team owner Jerry Jones, a vocal <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nfl-owners-support-donald-trump-list-donated-president-1510841">Trump supporter</a>, who agreed to participate – provided that it did not occur <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2737631-jerry-jones-says-a-cowboys-player-who-disrespects-the-flag-wont-play">during the anthem</a>.</p>
<h2>The corporate dance</h2>
<p>Of course, it is possible for activist athletes to compete with leagues for attention and influence. But this often requires a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420701472866">perilous relationship with corporate power</a>, such as when Nike announced its brand partnership with Kaepernick. </p>
<p>“Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything,” read Kaepernick’s <a href="https://qz.com/1400583/modern-corporate-social-activism-looks-like-nikes-kaepernick-ad/">Nike ad</a>. This slogan – which could just as easily have been catchphrase for the military or the police – reveals the anesthetizing effects corporate messaging can have on politics. Sure, athletes might appear in ads that mention social justice. But they’re ultimately there to sell products, and often <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/19/nike-colin-kaepernick-ads-national-anthem-protest-controversy.html">deliver more value to the corporation</a> than they get in return.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355376/original/file-20200828-21-ifdlpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michael Jordan watches a model showcase apparel from Jordan’s clothing line at New York City’s NikeTown in 1997.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Finance-amp-Business-New-Yor-/fd63813a3ae5da11af9f0014c2589dfb/15/0">AP Photo/Kathy Willens</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Corporate messaging, moreover, depends not on moral imperatives, but on prevailing public sentiment and shareholder interest. The marketplace provides no guarantee that a company changing its Twitter avatar to say “Black Lives Matter” will always be more <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/2013/06/racial-capitalism/">profitable</a> than staying silent or doing the opposite.</p>
<p>Furthermore, it is impossible, by definition, for corporations to send anti-corporate messages. For these reasons, athlete activism’s relationship to corporate power is inherently fragile. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>From talk to action</h2>
<p>This week’s work stoppage in professional sports is the most significant moment of athlete activism in a half century not because it “raised awareness” or “started a conversation,” but because it exercised labor’s most elemental form of political power: the strike. </p>
<p>By walking out, professional athletes leveraged their power to exploit, as sociologist Harry Edwards wrote in 1969, “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ddF5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT70&lpg=PT70&dq=%22the+power+to+be+gained+from+exploiting+the+white+man%27s+economic+and+almost+religious+involvement+in+athletics.%22&source=bl&ots=B1vS5FHIMt&sig=ACfU3U1sHzkam-TwF4zukao9CY_9sp6NCg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqp8zapr7rAhVHh-AKHedmCq0Q6AEwAXoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22the%20power%20to%20be%20gained%20from%20exploiting%20the%20white%20man's%20economic%20and%20almost%20religious%20involvement%20in%20athletics.%22&f=false">the white man’s economic and almost religious involvement in athletics</a>.” </p>
<p>After a summer of racist police violence and nationwide protest, the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin forced athletes to confront persuasion’s futility and embrace their capacity for leverage. T-shirts and television commercials do not yield phone calls with attorneys general and lieutenant governors, <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1298749552464404480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1298749552464404480%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fbucks-news-milwaukee-holds-call-with-wisconsin-attorney-general-and-lieutenant-governor-following-jacob-blake-shooting%2F">but strikes do</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1298749552464404480"}"></div></p>
<p>The same point was made most forcefully in 2015, when football players at the University of Missouri <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-mizzou-football-sacked-president-over-racism-on-campus">got their university president fired</a> within 36 hours of announcing a strike for racial justice. </p>
<p>As major media organizations framed the walk-off as a “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/sport/milwaukee-bucks-boycott-playoff-game/index.html">boycott</a>” and leagues announced that games had been “<a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29748076/brewers-reds-mariners-padres-call-games-focus-issues-more-important-baseball">postponed</a>,” these descriptors hid the threat striking athletes pose to sport’s economic health and racial order. In a vivid demonstration of worker agency, Black athletes refused to entertain audiences and make money for the wealthy owners of their teams.</p>
<p>This, they were saying, was not a conflict to be resolved through “listening.” It would require direct economic pressure. </p>
<p>It is tempting to view the walkout’s spread through <a href="https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29756518/walkouts-proof-mlb-men-uniform-learning-listen">baseball</a>, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/jets-cancel-practice-apparent-response-blake-shooting-72650977">football</a>, <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/compared-to-their-millionaire-nba-and-mlb-brethren-mls-players-boycott-comes-with-added-risks-202056686.html">soccer</a>, and even <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/naomi-osaka-walkout-boycott-western-southern-open-jacob-blake-shooting-semifinal-014908552.html">tennis</a> as an expansion of the activist athlete’s platform. But maybe we should view it as the emergence of interdependent workers’ collectives. After suspending the season in March, the NBA <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/nba-bubble-rules-teams-schedule-orlando/zhap66a9hcwq1khmcex3ggabo">decided in July</a> to resume play in Orlando at a Disney complex where all participants would undergo regular virus testing and live together under quarantine. </p>
<p>The “bubble” in Orlando was designed to protect the league’s assets from COVID-19. But what if, instead, the players’ forced proximity to each other ended up cultivating a radical consciousness and facilitating a spirit of worker resistance?</p>
<p>Where the athlete strike goes next is not entirely clear. The NBA has announced that games will resume, and the NFL and NFL Players Association issued a <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-nflpa-issue-joint-statement-on-social-injustice-in-wake-of-jacob-blake-shooting/">joint statement</a> indicating their intention to “use our collective platform to call out racism and injustice whenever and wherever it occurs.” </p>
<p>The statement is a reminder that when corporate power seeks common cause with labor, the result is almost always “difficult conversations about these issues.” Corporations love conversations. They reduce politics to speech and forestall the pace of meaningful social change. </p>
<p>However, sports organizations tend to move more quickly when their <a href="https://apnews.com/2e74831385bb21f6098b8feda2cb74c4">workers refuse to play</a>. </p>
<p>In a polarized political environment under a president <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-accepts-the-nomination-from-the-white-house-lawn-portraying-a-nation-in-crisis-and-himself-as-its-hero-144909">keen to stoke racial division</a>, I see attempts at moral persuasion as teardrops in a poisoned well. What began with the Milwaukee Bucks in Orlando signals a new form of athlete activism not because the platform is growing or the arguments are becoming more convincing, but because it eschews the trappings of symbolic spectacle. </p>
<p>The players are leveraging labor power to accomplish real political work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abraham I. Khan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When professional athletes refuse to play, they engage in activism that can’t be co-opted by team owners and corporate sponsors.Abraham I. Khan, Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Communication Arts & Sciences, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1425402020-07-16T12:14:06Z2020-07-16T12:14:06ZBlack Lives Matter, LGBTQ rights, Trump: The risks and rewards of corporate activism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347698/original/file-20200715-23-11ncdkq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C315%2C3131%2C1777&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dozens of companies have recently expressed support for Black Lives Matter. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/A-MJ8YGsGQA">Jessica Felicio via unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Companies and CEOs are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/12/business/strike-for-black-lives-union-wages/index.html">increasingly wading into political issues</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242920937000">My latest research</a> suggests that such corporate activism can come with high costs if it doesn’t align with the political values of a company’s customers, employees and local lawmakers — or big gains when it does. </p>
<p>In what we think is the first study to examine how corporate activism affects financial performance, three co-authors and I built a database of decisions by publicly traded companies that took a stand on <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/06/2014-Polarization-Topline-for-Release.pdf">polarizing issues</a> such as LGBTQ rights, abortion, immigration and gun control over a five-year period. We then looked at the relationships between activism and immediate changes in a company’s stock price and subsequent changes in its sales. We found that the impact depended on how well the company’s activism aligned with the political values of the people the company represents. On average, well-aligned activism boosts a stock price by approximately 1% and sales by approximately 10%. Misaligned activism lowered a stock price by over 2% and reduced sales by over 4%. </p>
<p>The impact on stock prices depends on whether investors think the activism will strengthen or weaken long-term relationships with customers, employees and lawmakers — who may retaliate by <a href="https://fortune.com/2018/08/23/delta-ceo-ed-bastian-nra-backlash/">rescinding tax breaks</a> or making other policy changes. We found that companies can avoid or mitigate stock drops when they explain to investors how activism is good for business. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Companies and their executives are increasingly moving into political terrain. Recently Amazon, Walmart and other companies <a href="https://theconversation.com/corporate-activism-is-more-than-a-marketing-gimmick-141570">expressed support for Black Lives Matter</a>. <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/7/12/21320954/goya-foods-unanue-boycott-cancel-culture-free-speech">Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue praised</a> President Donald Trump’s leadership during the pandemic. </p>
<p>This trend began in the 1990s and early 2000s as human rights activists and environmentalists pressured companies to be “responsible” members of society. Today consumers, employees and local citizens are pressuring <a href="https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2018-10/2018_Edelman_Earned_Brand_Executive_Summary_Brochure.pdf">companies to take actions that support their own political views</a>. </p>
<p>Currently, nearly <a href="https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/02/kpmg-international-survey-of-corporate-responsibility-reporting-2015.pdf">every major company</a> promotes its efforts to protect the environment and ensure workers’ rights. As <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-new-ceo-activists">more companies take political positions</a>, our research shows companies may want to ensure its views reflect those of its employees and customers. Unanue’s comments about Trump, for example, drew an immediate backlash and calls for a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/goya-ceo-s-trump-comments-led-latinos-call-boycott-goya-ncna1233516">boycott by its largely Latino customer base</a>. This reaction also drew calls for a <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/goya-food-sales-trump-controversy">“buycott”</a> of Goya’s products, suggesting companies might also gain new customers even while losing others. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We are only beginning to understand how corporate activism affects profits, brand perceptions, competitive reactions and – importantly – public attitudes toward the issues at hand. </p>
<p>Future research may evaluate how corporate activism affects a brand’s market position. For example, certain activist brands like <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-nike-kaepernick-20180905-story.html">Nike</a> and <a href="https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2019/12/unexpected-activism">Ben & Jerry’s</a> have a reputation for taking political stances. Does having an activist reputation reduce competitive threats? How does it affect the way customers view the brand and its products? </p>
<h2>What other research is being done</h2>
<p>A small but growing field of researchers is examining activism from a variety of perspectives. For example, in the recent “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/45/6/i4/5390577">Future of Brands</a>” conference at Columbia University, scholars presented <a href="https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/globalbrands/sites/globalbrands/files/DRAFT%20Future_of_Brands_Agenda_as_of_2019_10_15.pdf">work</a> examining how corporate activism shapes consumers’ moral decision making. More broadly, we need <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx037">more research</a> to understand how people’s political views shape what they buy.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142540/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua T. Beck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies are increasingly taking stands on hot-button political issues from LGBT rights to Black Lives Matter. New research shines light on whether and when it can benefit the bottom line.Joshua T. Beck, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1314472020-02-10T13:56:50Z2020-02-10T13:56:50Z3 ways coronavirus will affect the US economy – and 1 silver lining<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314350/original/file-20200210-27557-1tmlnt2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C136%2C2974%2C1865&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Apple closed all its stores in China as a health precaution, now through at least Feb. 14. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Roman Balandin/TASS via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the new coronavirus <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/09/world/asia/coronavirus-china.html">spreads around the world</a>, and confirmed cases and deaths mount, economists are increasingly concerned about the impact on the U.S. economy. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/2020-02-mpr-summary.htm">recent report to Congress</a>, the Federal Reserve warned that disruptions from the coronavirus could spill over into the global economy, creating new risks to the U.S. And Wall Street lender <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-closes-china-to-the-world-straining-global-economy-11580689793">Goldman Sachs estimates</a> that the virus will cut as much as half a point off of U.S. economic output in the first quarter of 2020. </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Ya-wl6EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">expert in supply chain management</a>, I’ve studied how dependent U.S. companies have become on manufacturers of parts and products in China. But that is only one of many ways the outbreak could hurt the U.S. economy. Here, I list three – as well as something that could mitigate the impact. </p>
<h2>1. Sales to China</h2>
<p>China is one of the largest markets for U.S. products, especially electronics and <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201812/06/WS5c08b214a310eff30328f7be.html">fashion</a>.</p>
<p>For example, about 47% of <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/737844/revenue-of-qualcomm-by-region/">Qualcomm’s annual revenue</a> and 28% of <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/263560/net-revenue-of-intel-by-region-since-2006/">Intel’s income</a> comes from China, making it the most important region for both chipmakers. China is also the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/382175/quarterly-revenue-of-apple-by-geograhical-region/">second-largest market for iPhone-maker Apple</a>, and the outbreak has the potential to severely depress its sales. <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/apples-chinese-stores-to-remain-closed-due-to-coronavirus/">Apple extended the closure</a> of its corporate offices and all of its stores in China until at least Feb. 14.</p>
<p>Many cities and provinces <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/07/virus-outbreak-forces-chinese-to-stay-at-home-and-order-more-delivery.html">have told businesses</a> to stay closed, and residents throughout China have been staying off the streets. That has resulted in deserted shopping centers with closed stores, including those run by American fast food companies and fashion retailers, such as <a href="https://hypebeast.com/2020/2/nike-adidas-coronavirus-china-store-closing">Nike, Starbucks and McDonald’s</a>, to name a few. </p>
<h2>2. Constrained and disrupted supply chains</h2>
<p>The Chinese economy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/for-want-of-widgets-exporters-hit-by-china-factory-shutdown-race-to-shore-up-supplies/2020/02/06/f13f7602-47f0-11ea-91ab-ce439aa5c7c1_story.html">has effectively shut down</a>, which is taking a toll on U.S. manufacturers through their supply chains. </p>
<p>Manufacturers that use components in their products that are mostly sourced from infected areas in China such as Wuhan, <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus-outbreak/Wuhan-lockdown-strikes-at-heart-of-Made-in-China-2025">where more than 500 car parts manufacturers operate,</a> have two options: find alternative sources outside of China or shut down production. </p>
<p>Automakers including Tesla, Ford and Volkswagen <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/business/hyundai-south-korea-coronavirus.html">have shut down plants</a> in China. Hyundai has gone a step further and temporarily closed production lines in South Korea because of a shortage of parts, a hint of more trouble for other manufacturers. </p>
<p>U.S. companies such as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickmoorhead/2019/04/13/who-are-apples-iphone-contract-manufacturers/#400fb974e6de">Apple that have outsourced most of their manufacturing facilities to China</a> have been affected by widespread closures. And even when components or products remain generally available, the disruption to established supply chains is limiting access for some companies.</p>
<h2>3. US tourism will take a hit</h2>
<p>Chinese tourism has in recent years become an <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/goldman-sachs-warns-wuhan-coronavirus-will-hit-us-growth-2020-1-1028863082">important driver</a> of U.S. GDP. </p>
<p>Then the trade war arrived, and that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/business/trade-war-us-china-tourism.html">caused a large drop</a> in Chinese visits. Now, the coronavirus is expected to deal another blow to the industry. Many airlines have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/02/04/business/04reuters-china-health-airlines-factbox.html">have canceled all flights</a> in and out of China, and the Trump administration has imposed <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/482103-trump-health-officials-defend-coronavirus-quarantine-travel-restrictions">travel restrictions</a> that bar any foreign national who has recently traveled to China from entering the U.S. </p>
<p>The number of visitors coming to the United States from China <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/tourism-economics/craft/Latest-Research-Docs/Coronavirus-scenarios-TE-Oxford-1-31-2020.pdf">could drop by as much as 28%</a> in 2020, which could translate into US$5.8 billion in less spending this year and $10.3 billion less through 2024. </p>
<h2>Trade war’s silver lining</h2>
<p>One consequence of the U.S.-China trade war is that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/03/economy/us-china-trade-war-winners/index.html">many U.S. companies have moved all or most</a> of their manufacturing facilities out of China to other countries in the region, such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Bangladesh and South Korea. </p>
<p>In a May 2019 <a href="https://www.amcham-shanghai.org/sites/default/files/2019-05/Joint_survey_on_tariffs_May_2019.pdf">survey</a>, about 40% of American Chamber of Commerce member companies said they have relocated manufacturing facilities outside China or were considering doing so.</p>
<p>This could mitigate some of the impact as a result of disruptions in mainland, but <a href="https://www.cnn.com/asia/live-news/coronavirus-outbreak-02-09-20-intl-hnk/index.html">the outbreak is spreading</a> to other countries in Asia – though not as fast as in China – so their new manufacturing facilities could still be affected. </p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Aboolian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Fed warns of the risks posed by the new coronavirus, a supply chain expert explains how the outbreak could harm companies and the economy.Robert Aboolian, Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, California State University San MarcosLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1312492020-02-06T11:50:08Z2020-02-06T11:50:08ZNike Vaporfly ban: why World Athletics had to act against the high-tech shoes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313933/original/file-20200206-43095-1gdejg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-thailand-october-2019-runner-wearing-1529219165">Nattawit Khomsanit/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge last year became the first person to run a marathon distance in <a href="https://theconversation.com/kipchoges-marathon-success-remains-a-mystery-some-clues-from-my-research-117040">under two hours</a>. But instead of being a pure celebration of human performance, the achievement (though not technically an official world record) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/18/sports/marathon-running-nike-vaporfly-shoes.html">led to criticism</a> of Kipchoge’s shoes, an advanced design of the Nike Vaporfly. It represented an intensification of concern that the Vaporfly design was turning the humble trainer into an unfair form of performance enhancement.</p>
<p>Now Kipchoge’s Vaporflys <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/31/sport/nike-world-athletics-vaporfly-alphafly-ban-spt-intl/index.html">have been banned</a> from competition in a recent move by running’s governing body, World Athletics. Despite this, other versions of the shoes will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-vaporfly-shoes-avoid-ban-but-prototypes-regulated-2020-1?r=US&IR=">still be legal</a>. The <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/modified-rules-shoes">new rules</a> also set a maximum sole thickness and a limit to the number of internal carbon plates that are used to help manage the runner’s energy. In addition, any new design of shoes has to be made available for anyone to buy four months before they can be used in competition. </p>
<p>These amendments are arguably a balanced and pragmatic approach that addresses some of the problems that new technology can pose to competitive sport. In this case, all of running’s world records will remain, but a firmer line has now been drawn before footwear design advances further. </p>
<p>But this outcome could still be criticised because Nike’s competitors now only have until spring to respond to the Vaporfly’s design, otherwise their shoes will not be legal for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Games. Either way, it will likely still affects the sport at both a professional and amateur level. </p>
<p>We know that the kind of technology that the Vaporfly incorporates can give runners an advantage. A study published in 2017 demonstrated that such shoes were <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-017-0811-2">4% more efficient</a> than several of their competitors. </p>
<p>But the influence of any new form of sports technology should still ensure that the sport remains fair and accessible to everyone. A review <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40064-015-1331-x">published in 2015</a> proposed that sports technology could be considered inappropriate if people can’t access it, afford to purchase it, or safely use it.</p>
<p>These kind of issues have occurred before in <a href="https://theconversation.com/wafer-thin-bicycles-speedy-shorts-go-faster-trainers-controversial-technology-in-sport-126301">several other sports</a>. In 2009, the world of athletics debated whether Paralympian Oscar Pistorius could (and should) compete against able-bodied runners because it was argued that his prostheses <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17461390802635483">were performance enhancing</a>. (He eventually ran in the 2012 Olympic Games.)</p>
<p>Likewise, once full-body and specially textured swimsuits started rapidly rewriting swimming’s world records, their <a href="http://www.cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/v3/a07/cu11v3a7.pdf">adoption was challenged</a> and eventually outlawed. In that case (like that of Kipchoge’s Vaporflys), athletes who couldn’t get hold of the swimsuits were left at a competitive disadvantage if they had sponsorship or endorsement with brands that didn’t produce the equipment.</p>
<p>There are other concerns too. Some athletes can also feel coerced into using new technology – whether it is optimal or not – for fear of being left behind. Likewise, a sport can be deskilled or somehow made easier by allowing new technology. This was why the unique string pattern on tennis rackets known as “spaghetti stringing” was <a href="https://www.tennis.com/gear/2013/02/question-day-revisiting-spaghetti-racquet/46306/">ultimately banned</a> in the 1970s because it made it easier to control and create spin on the ball.</p>
<h2>Impact on amateurs</h2>
<p>All of these ethical concerns require consideration when competitive rules are constructed and work together with any scientific measurements to ensure the most robust regulations are created. Yet, while this debate usually centres on elite athletes, Nike’s Vaporflys could also profoundly change what recreational runners will be able to achieve themselves. </p>
<p>While running shoes now have functional limits placed upon them for major competitions, the rules will be unlikely to apply to amateurs who run or race for mere enjoyment. It’s not inconceivable that the gap between amateur and professional could narrow slightly if elites cannot use the same shoes as everyone else.</p>
<p>This situation could already hypothetically occur, in that a recreational jogger with a lower-limb amputation could use a highly effective bionic limb to run. Yet a Paralympian can’t use much more than a composite spring when racing under current <a href="https://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/180112123931374_World+Para+Athletics+Rules+and+Regulations+2018-2019+-+January+2018.pdf">International Paralympic Committee rules</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the proposed gains of the Vaporfly shoes will not suddenly turn recreational donkeys into racehorses. But at an elite level it is possible for a top athlete to suddenly become uncompetitive if they don’t keep up with the kind of innovation Nike has demonstrated. Irrespective of the World Athletics decision, running has moved from being a footrace to an arms race.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131249/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryce Dyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New rules on athletes’ trainers were on the cards since Eliud Kipchoge ran the first sub-two hour marathon in special Vaporflys.Bryce Dyer, Deputy Head of Department, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1264062019-11-07T12:16:38Z2019-11-07T12:16:38ZInequality is higher in some states like New York and Louisiana because of corporate welfare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300474/original/file-20191106-12521-1n5z88i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York's offer of incentives to Amazon to open a headquarters in the state faced significant opposition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Karen Matthews</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Income inequality <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/income-inequality-reached-highest-level-ever-recorded-in-2018-2019-9-1028559996">made</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/09/26/income-inequality-america-highest-its-been-since-census-started-tracking-it-data-show/">big</a> <a href="https://www.axios.com/income-inequality-united-states-record-c78b1ff4-4b71-4a88-a890-db20ff8222f3.html">headlines</a> in 2019, after the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/news/data-releases/2018/release.html#par_textimage_copy">U.S. Census Bureau</a> released data showing that the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is at its <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764654623/u-s-income-inequality-worsens-widening-to-a-new-gap">highest level in at least half a century</a>. </p>
<p>Less reported was the <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?hidePreview=true&q=B19083%3A%20GINI%20INDEX%20OF%20INCOME%20INEQUALITY&table=B19083&tid=ACSDT1Y2018.B19083&lastDisplayedRow=155&g=0100000US.04000.001&tp=true">significant variation among the states</a>. New York and California had the highest inequality in 2018, while Utah and Alaska had the lowest. In addition, states as diverse as Alabama, Texas and New Hampshire experienced large increases from the prior year.</p>
<p>Why are some states more or less equal than others? </p>
<p>It usually comes down to policies. States with <a href="https://scholars.org/contribution/how-states-can-fight-growing-economic-inequality">more generous welfare programs</a> and <a href="http://csivc.csi.cuny.edu/Thomas.Volscho/files/volscho1.pdf">higher minimum wages</a> often have lower inequality, while those with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1532440018760198">weaker unions</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/20/opinion/sunday/inequality-taxes.html">lower taxes on the rich</a> have higher levels.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://jmjansa.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/chasing-disparity-sppq-final-version-w-cover.pdf">research suggests</a> there’s another, less-noticed reason behind the disparities: corporate welfare. </p>
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<h2>Incentivizing inequality</h2>
<p>States offer economic development incentives to businesses in order to encourage their investment and expansion in the state.</p>
<p>Famously, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/18/technology/amazon-finalists-headquarters.html">hundreds of states and cities offered</a> Amazon property and income tax credits, bonds, grants, reimbursements and infrastructure assistance in their efforts to convince the Internet giant to open a “second” headquarters in one of their cities. One of the finalists even offered to provide Amazon with <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/14/atlanta-offered-amazon-the-chance-at-its-own-train-car-for-hq2.html">a private train car</a>. New York and Virginia won the sweepstakes with a combined <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/business/economy/amazon-hq2-va-long-island-city-incentives.html">US$2 billion in incentives</a> – although Amazon dropped New York after it met political resistance.</p>
<p>But the amount of incentives states offer can vary significantly. For example, New Hampshire spent just $9.9 million on incentives, or 75 cents for every state resident, per year from 1999 to 2014, while Louisiana paid out an average of $1.2 billion a year, or $267 per capita.</p>
<p>I wanted to know if how much a state spends on corporate incentives affects its level of income inequality. So I analyzed incentive spending using <a href="https://www.goodjobsfirst.org">Good Jobs First</a> data and income inequality as measured by the <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?hidePreview=true&q=B19083%3A%20GINI%20INDEX%20OF%20INCOME%20INEQUALITY&table=B19083&tid=ACSDT1Y2018.B19083&lastDisplayedRow=155&g=0100000US.04000.001&tp=true">Gini coefficient</a> from 1999 to 2014. </p>
<p>The Gini coefficient measures inequality by assigning a decimal number that can range from 0, which represents perfect equality, to 1, meaning perfect inequality. New York had a Gini of 0.513 in 2018, while Utah’s was 0.426. A change in the Gini coefficient of as little as 0.01 means the top 10% of households earned $1,500 to $2,400 more per year, depending on the state. </p>
<p>I found that when states spend more on incentives, their level of inequality tends to spike within a year or so. This holds true even when controlling for other economic and demographic factors and other public policies.</p>
<p>The data showed that, on average, for every $180 per citizen that a state spends on incentives, the Gini coefficient increases by 0.004. In other words, $600 to $1,000 more winds up in the pockets of people from wealthy households.</p>
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<p>In big-dollar terms, $180 per citizen is the equivalent of a state spending $200 million to $2 billion a year on incentives, depending on its population. To put it in context, states frequently give billion-dollar incentive packages to individual companies, such as <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nevada-gives-1-3-billion-tax-break-to-electric-car-maker-tesla/">Tesla</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/id/100315374">Nike</a>, <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2018/12/intels-oregon-tax-breaks-are-among-the-nations-biggest-new-report-finds.html">Intel</a>, <a href="https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report-state/boeings-8-7-billion-washington-state-tax-break-under-scrutiny">Boeing</a> and <a href="https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/study-nissans-mississippi-subsidies-top-13-billion">Nissan</a>.</p>
<p>Incentives serve to redistribute funds to the wealthy and reduce resources for broadly redistributive policies over the long run.</p>
<h2>The whole story</h2>
<p>Incentives, of course, do not explain everything. New Hampshire, for example, has growing inequality but doesn’t spend much on incentives.</p>
<p>Yet, looking at incentives can help explain why states that are <a href="https://scholars.org/contribution/how-us-states-are-tackling-inequality-and-what-more-can-be-done">leaders in mitigating inequality</a> through higher minimum wages or welfare spending on the poor, such as New Mexico and New York, are still seeing growing inequality.</p>
<p>So the next time you hear an elected official cite big <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/ap-fact-check-scott-walker-embellishes-return-on-new-milwaukee/article_f00d4074-d403-5944-a00f-902705e8153f.html">returns on investment</a> as their reason for offering a company billions in incentives to open a factory or office, remember they aren’t telling the whole story. Those big returns come at a cost: higher inequality, which in turn can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.178708">hamper economic growth</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Jansa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The gap between rich and poor is at record levels in the U.S., yet it varies widely among the states. A political scientist explains why.Joshua Jansa, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Oklahoma State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1099362019-01-16T19:10:24Z2019-01-16T19:10:24ZGillette’s corporate calculation shows just how far the #metoo movement has come<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/254037/original/file-20190116-152986-11lri6h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gillette’s 'the best a man can get' campaign exemplifies a new type of corporate political activism.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gillette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For decades Gillette has been selling razors using the slogan “the best a man can get”. This week the Procter & Gamble-owned brand has adopted “the best a man can be” as part of a marketing campaign meant to challenge toxic masculinity. </p>
<p>Explicitly aligning itself with the #metoo movement, the message is that men have to change if we want to end sexual harassment, bullying and domestic violence.</p>
<p>The campaign’s centrepiece, a 108-second “<a href="https://gillette.com/en-us/the-best-men-can-be">short film</a>”, has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/15/gillette-metoo-ad-on-toxic-masculinity-cuts-deep-with-mens-rights-activists">divided opinion</a>. Among those to declare their contempt for Gillette’s “virtue signalling” is the British television presenter Piers Morgan, who has labelled the advert <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6594295/PIERS-MORGAN-Im-sick-war-masculinity-Gillette-just-cut-throat.html">“man-hating” and part of a “war on masculinity”</a>. </p>
<p>On the other side, those lauding Gillette include Glamour magazine contributor Helen Wilson-Beevers, who has <a href="https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/gillette-campaign">praised the video</a> as a “self-assured piece of advertising that Gillette should be proud of”.</p>
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<h2>The new corporate political activism</h2>
<p>Gillette’s campaign exemplifies a new type of <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-new-ceo-activists">corporate political activism</a> where corporations and their chief executives publicly back progressive social and political causes. </p>
<p>A textbook example is Nike’s advertisements featuring American football player Colin Kaepernick, who began the practice of NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality against African Americans. </p>
<p>Whereas in the past corporations could be expected to be the targets of political activists – on such issues as climate change, worker exploitation and animal cruelty – today many corporations see advantages in becoming the activists. </p>
<p>Nike is the classic case study. In 1997 the company was being dragged over the public coals for the use of child labour in the factories it contracted to make its shoes in countries such as Indonesia. By 2017 some considered it a <a href="http://www.marketingjournal.org/stand-for-something-brand-activism-at-nike-christian-sarkar-and-philip-kotler/">leader in corporate social activism</a>.</p>
<p>This can be very good for business. Corporate activism is a marketing strategy geared at the management of corporate values and identity, as well as reputation building. It has been explicitly identified as having the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2742209">twin objectives</a>: to influence public opinion but also to improve consumer attitudes about the company. </p>
<p>Nike exemplifies this as well. While some saw the Kaepernick ad as a calculated market risk, it paid off. By the end of <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/nike-sales-booming-kaepernick-ad-invalidating-critics/story?id=59957137">2018 Nike’s sales</a> far exceeded expectations, and its share price continued to rise.</p>
<p>This is not to say that nobody at Nike or Gillette genuinely believes in the causes the organisations have chosen to support. But that support would still have depended on the cause passing the “business case” test – with any social benefits seen as being matched to self-interested commercial benefits. </p>
<p>After all, we don’t see many corporations campaigning to eliminate aggressive <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/nike-sales-booming-kaepernick-ad-invalidating-critics/story?id=59957137">corporate tax avoidance</a>, even though that is the leading way they contribute to society. </p>
<h2>Praise to #metoo</h2>
<p>This tells us something about the causes corporate activists put their money behind. Put simply, when a corporation backs a progressive social movement it is because the company is reasonably confident its cause has mainstream support.</p>
<p>Gillette’s embrace of #metoo themes is thus a corporate endorsement of how mainstream that movement has become. In barely a year it has grown into a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-year-after-it-began-has-metoo-become-a-global-movement/2018/10/05/1fc0929e-c71a-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_story.html?utm_term=.7f9173f3e9f0">global social phenomena</a> bringing women’s experiences of workplace sexual harassment and exploitation out of the shadows. In the words of the #metoo founder <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/us/tarana-burke-ted-talk-trnd/index.html">Tarana Burke</a>, the goal is to build “a world free of sexual violence”. </p>
<p>That Gillette has aligned itself with the #metoo movement is not something for the brand to be congratulated on. It is #metoo that deserves the praise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109936/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carl Rhodes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gillette’s controversial advertisement is an important sign the #metoo movement has changed the global zeitgeist.Carl Rhodes, Professor of Organization Studies, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1067352018-11-09T19:02:27Z2018-11-09T19:02:27ZIceland Christmas ad: barred, but it will help 2018 go down as the year of ‘corporate caring’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/244832/original/file-20181109-37973-j38m02.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C1261%2C709&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdpspllWI2o">Iceland/YouTube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Christmas advertisement for the UK supermarket chain Iceland, which tells the story of a young girl who tries to help a baby orangutan whose home has been destroyed to create palm oil, will not be broadcast on television. The short animation, voiced by actress Emma Thompson, highlights <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-surveyed-borneos-orangutans-and-found-100-000-had-disappeared-91944">the devastating impact</a> that deforestation for palm oil plantations has on orangutans. </p>
<p>But because the film was originally <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQXstNh45g">made by Greenpeace</a>, Clearcast – the body responsible for clearing ads on behalf of the UK’s major broadcasters – <a href="https://www.clearcast.co.uk/press/iceland-advert/">decided that</a> it breaches <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/contents">rules against political advertising</a>. Richard Walker, the son of the supermarket chain’s founder, who had led a move towards environmental campaigning <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/09/iceland-christmas-tv-ad-banned-political-greenpeace-orangutan">admitted</a>: “We always knew there was a risk [the clip would not be cleared for TV] but we gave it our best shot.” </p>
<p>Yet from a marketing point of view, taking this risk makes perfect sense as it’s effectively a win–win. If the advert had been permitted to air on television, the company would have got the airing it wanted. But since it has been barred, Iceland tweeted to <a href="https://twitter.com/IcelandFoods/status/1060774234266484737">ask if the public</a> will help share the advert – and people are doing just that. </p>
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<p>This all amounts to a lot of free publicity. </p>
<h2>Following their footsteps</h2>
<p>Throughout 2018, a number of brands have been embracing causes. In a <a href="https://theconversation.com/nike-colin-kaepernick-and-the-pitfalls-of-woke-corporate-branding-102922">recent Nike advert</a> featuring former National Football League (NFL) star, Colin Kaepernick, the sportswear company featured called on consumers to “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything”. </p>
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<p>Nike initially saw a decrease in share prices, while the media debated the brand’s decision to reference to Kaepernick’s silent protest against police shootings of unarmed African Americans, and its capacity to effectively fight for social justice. But consumers seemed to view the campaign favourably – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/08/colin-kaepernick-nike-ad-sales-up">analysts reported</a> a sales increase of more than 31% during the Labour Day weekend, up from a 17% increase the previous year. </p>
<p>Taking a stand is important, as market <a href="https://www.edelman.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018-Earned-Brand-UK.pdf">surveys have recently</a> revealed that consumers are more likely to purchase products and brands that back causes their consumers believe in. Over the past decade there has been a shift, as many more people are prepared to engage with campaigns that represent a belief in a just world, such as the the <a href="https://metoomvmt.org/">#MeToo</a> movement against sexual harassment. </p>
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<p>Companies have been quick to pick up on the wider public’s interest in social justice, and have subsequently engaged with a diverse range of issues in their marketing and business practices, including <a href="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/t-mobile-goes-for-message-of-equality-with-super-bowl-spot-narrated-by-kerry-washington/">equality for women</a>, the <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/01/21/coca-cola-joins-crusade-against-plastic-world-without-waste-recycling-campaign">impact of single-use plastics</a> on the world’s oceans and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/6/25/17476850/pride-month-lgbtq-corporate-explained">LGBTQI rights</a>. </p>
<p>If it is close to consumers’ hearts, it tends to be of keen interest to brands looking to entice people to purchase their products and services. For brands to survive and thrive, it is essential to follow consumer trends – and the current trend is to show that you care. Over the years, the interests of the consumers have been wide ranging: in response, some corporate marketing has shifted its focus from individuals and physical appearance, toward groups and their desires to change the world.</p>
<h2>Caring or co-opting?</h2>
<p>The simplest way to ensure a strong clear association between a brand (in this case Iceland) and the cause it is hoping to be associated with is by repeatedly pairing the two together. This is usually done through advertising – but the fact that many mainstream media outlets are now drawing attention to the ban ensures that this pairing will happen without the help of a prime-time television slot. </p>
<p>From the consumer’s perspective there will now be a clear association between the supermarket chain and the fight to protect endangered species and the environment. <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/16/iceland-pledges-go-plastic-free/">This is not the first time</a> Iceland has set out to tackle environmental issues – earlier in the year, the supermarket pledged to remove plastic packaging from its own-brand products by 2023. But the Christmas ad is one of its most successful attempts at capturing interest from a wider audience.</p>
<p>A cynical person might say that Iceland is simply trying to increase its sales. But if the outcome is good – in this case, generating environmental awareness around the impacts of deforestation – consumers may not care. Just imagine how much good could be done if all big brands and manufacturers would jump on the justice bandwagon – at least until consumer trends change again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathrine Jansson-Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From LGBTQI rights to racial justice, companies are embracing the social issues that matter to their consumers. And, of course, that makes sense.Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, Reader in Consumer Psychology, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1034652018-09-18T13:55:00Z2018-09-18T13:55:00ZWhy Kipchoge’s spectacular Berlin run sets the stage for faster marathons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236877/original/file-20180918-158246-af5ewg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kenyan long distance runner Eliud Kipchoge sets a new world record at the Berlin Marathon.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Hayoung Jeon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eliud Kipchoge’s spectacular 2:01:39 <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-athletics-berlin/kenyan-kipchoge-shatters-marathon-world-record-in-berlin-idUSKCN1LW08P">marathon world record</a> at Berlin on the 16th of September 2018 raises a number of questions about just how low the record can go and when another record might happen. </p>
<p>The prior record of 2:02:57 was set by <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/kenya/dennis-kimetto-014479171">Dennis Kimetto</a> at Berlin in 2014, and starting in 2003 when <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/kenya/paul-tergat-9745">Paul Tergat</a> ran 2:04:55, the record has been broken <a href="https://www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a20823734/these-are-the-worlds-fastest-marathoners-and-marathon-courses/">seven times at Berlin</a>. The six prior world records at Berlin all lowered the mark by between 15 and 45 seconds. Kipchoge took a 78 second bite out of the record.</p>
<p>The Kenyan’s extraordinary success didn’t come as a complete surprise. In May last year he ran 2:00:25 for the marathon distance in a special <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/sports/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-nike-shoes.html">“exhibition” staged by Nike</a> run on the car racing track at Monza in Italy. The race included a phalanx of pace makers along with Nike’s latest and greatest racing shoe. </p>
<p>On top of this, since he started competing in marathons in 2013, Kipchoge has had an amazing string of competitive success in major races winning 10 of 11 including a gold medal at Rio. He also <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/kenya/eliud-kipchoge-188307">has a superb record at shorter races.</a>. His only non-win was a second place finish at Berlin in 2013. </p>
<p>As impressive as these performances are, I have been saying since the early 1990s that it might be physiologically possible for a human to run faster – and perhaps even to run a marathon under two hours.</p>
<p>I based this on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2022559">my research</a> which focused on the various physiological factors that contribute to fast marathon running. In my papers I looked at what would happen if one person had the best values ever recorded for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-low-can-marathon-times-go-32313">“big three”</a> – maximal oxygen uptake, the so-called lactate threshold, and running economy or efficiency. </p>
<p>So what do the 2:01:39 record and 2:00:25 exhibition time by Kipchoge tell us about what might be possible – and when it might happen?</p>
<h2>What we’ve learnt</h2>
<p>First, for both runs the temperatures at the race starts were a bit higher than what might be ideal – about 8°C - 10°C. Things also warmed up during the runs. I believe that on a slightly cooler day, Kipchoge could go faster. The response to small changes in temperature can vary between individuals, but a slightly cooler day should be conducive to a faster time, maybe 20 or 30 seconds.</p>
<p>Second, for the 2:00:25 run in 2017, the course had minimal sharp turns and the pacing was perfect with plenty of elite runners doing essentially a relay in front of Kipchoge to reduce wind resistance. By contrast the <a href="https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/race-day/course.html">Berlin course is full of turns</a>, and Kipchoge covered the last 40% or so of the race alone. </p>
<p>A faster course and better pace making could clearly also help take time off.</p>
<p>These two issues could be solved by having an open race on a flat fast (low altitude) loop course with minimal turns. The Monza track comes to mind. And the race would need to be run when the weather was likely to be good. Running it at night could keep things even cooler. </p>
<p>There could also be lots of fast runners recruited to run the race with cash premiums to anyone who hit fast times for intermediate distances. In marathon running top athletes only have a limited number of paydays per year, so to get all of the top runners at the same race on the same day would take a creative prize money scheme, appearance fees and a big purse.</p>
<p>The third key point is an infusion of talent. Kipchoge is now 33-years-old. He has been at the top for about 15 years and sooner or later he will slow down or retire. He clearly has a number of good years left, but not an unlimited number. The good news is there are some emerging talents in distance running including a 12-minute 43-seconds 5000m track run (4th fastest ever) by 18-year-old Selemon Barega of Ethiopia <a href="http://www.watchathletics.com/video/recently-added/5328/selemon-barega-establishes-4th-fastest-5000m-time-in-history-in-brussels/">just a few weeks ago</a>. </p>
<p>While it’s certainly reasonable to expect that whoever comes next will be from the high altitude zones of Kenya or Ethiopia, <a href="https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/norway/jakob-ingebrigtsen-294868">Jakob Ingebrigtsen</a> of Norway who will turn 18 on September 19 is running some very fast times at shorter distances. I also wonder what hidden talent there might be in the mountains of South America and Himalayas.</p>
<h2>Right conditions</h2>
<p>The two terrific runs by Kipchoge set the stage – under the right conditions, on the right day – for the right athlete to go even faster. Sometimes after a big improvement a record plateaus for years and other times there are big jumps followed by smaller incremental improvements every few years. My guess is that we will likely be entering an era of smaller improvements and perhaps someone will break two hours by the later <a href="https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00563.2010">2020s or middle 2030s</a>.<br>
On the other hand I would never bet against Kipchoge going faster, perhaps way faster, in the next few years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Joyner receives funding from The US National Institutes of Health and has consulted for Nike in the past. The opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and not his employer.</span></em></p>Under the right conditions marathons could be run in under two hours.Michael Joyner, Professor of Anesthesiology, Mayo ClinicLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1029222018-09-14T12:53:52Z2018-09-14T12:53:52ZNike, Colin Kaepernick and the pitfalls of ‘woke’ corporate branding<p>Nike reignited a culture war recently by revealing Colin Kaepernick as their spokesperson for the 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. The sportswear brand’s announcement came via a new advert in which young African Americans, Muslim women, physically impaired athletes and white skateboarders all encourage the viewer to follow their dreams, no matter how crazy. </p>
<p>Nike is clearly taking advantage of hot-button social issues to promote their brand, but commercialising human rights is tricky territory. Can a global brand like Nike really support a cause without coopting it? And is the company prepared to face scrutiny over its own ethical record?</p>
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<p>Colin Kaepernick, a former National Football League (NFL) star, <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-protest-of-national-anthem">knelt during the pre-game national anthem</a> in August 2016, in silent protest at police brutality and in the wake of several high-profile police shootings of unarmed African American men. </p>
<p>Dozens of fellow NFL players, of all backgrounds and heritages, followed suit and the protest soon <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/2017/9/29/16380080/donald-trump-nfl-colin-kaepernick-protests-national-anthem">included players from every team</a> in the league. The backlash was swift and severe, with conservative pundits, veterans and president Donald Trump decrying the protests as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/disrespecting-the-flag-is-a-disgraceful-way-to-protest-trump/2017/09/25/506a1d4c-a228-11e7-b14f-f41773cd5a14_story.html?utm_term=.1070d5c82b6c">disrespectful to the American flag</a> and military. </p>
<p>The latest salvo in the debate was launched by Kaepernick’s narration of the advert, prompting a social media hashtag urging people to “#BurnYourNikes”. <a href="https://gulfnews.com/business/analysis/a-step-too-far-even-by-nike-s-standards-1.2276636">Some observers in the US</a> seemed to think that Nike had gone too far, while the company’s share price and brand approval ratings fell, at least, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45472399">in the short-term</a>.</p>
<h2>Nike’s skeletons in the closet</h2>
<p>Kaepernick’s role as a Nike brand ambassador may seem like political theatre, intended to antagonise Donald Trump and his supporters. However, the reality is much more vapid.</p>
<p>This is smart business. The ad is clearly targeted at <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nike-knows-what-the-future-looks-like-and-its-something-like-colin-kaepernick/2018/09/04/50dbe1be-b06b-11e8-a20b-5f4f84429666_story.html">Nike’s most important customers</a>: young, urban consumers whose views are supposed to resonate with the advert’s apparent homage to diversity and social justice. </p>
<p>The brand made a strategic commitment to equality several years ago, which has seen it become a visible advocate for <a href="https://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/02/12/nike-uses-the-power-sport-take-stand-equality-new-campaign">equality and civil rights</a>. Nike has been trying to reposition itself since then as a socially conscious sportswear brand, to escape its ties with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/09/lance-armstrong-cycling-doping-scandal">Lance Armstrong</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/10/end-of-the-road-oscar-pistorius-loses-appeal-over-jail-term-in-final-legal-defeat">Oscar Pistorius</a> and <a href="https://aldf.org/case/case-study-animal-fighting-michael-vick/">Michael Vick</a>. </p>
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<span class="caption">Nike’s new campaign ad in Times Square, New York.</span>
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<p>But the company suffered an own-goal this spring, when a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/28/business/nike-women.html">New York Times investigation</a> revealed complaints from 50 current and former employees about Nike’s “boys’ club” culture of sexual harassment and gender pay disparities. The allegations led to several high profile departures from Nike headquarters in Oregon, but it didn’t end there. </p>
<p>In August, four female executives filed <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/8/15/17683484/nike-women-gender-pay-discrimination-lawsuit">a class-action lawsuit against the company</a> for gender discrimination. In the #Metoo era, Nike has, once again, found itself on the wrong side of the debate. </p>
<p>It’s no wonder then that some commentators have become uncomfortable with Nike’s foray into politics, arguing that it’s a cynical ploy to hijack social movements in order to sell shoes. Causes and campaigns can be big business for sportswear companies and may even do some good – just look at Adidas’ training <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/14/adidas-sold-1-million-shoes-made-out-of-ocean-plastic-in-2017.html">shoes made from ocean waste</a>. </p>
<p>Yet Nike’s support for Kaepernick’s protest, given its origins in opposing racial profiling and violence by the police, raises questions which detract from the lustre of the brand’s apparently noble stance.</p>
<h2>Coopting or cooperating?</h2>
<p>Part of the problem lies in Nike’s use of imagery, words and stories that lie well beyond the reach of sport. The tag-line of the campaign, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything”, sounds like a call to political action. </p>
<p>It’s the kind of soaring rhetoric you might expect to hear at a Black Lives Matter rally or the Women’s March on Washington. It’s certainly a far cry from the banter between <a href="https://youtu.be/8nl0w2Eyj_k">Michael Jordan and Spike Lee </a> from the original Just Do It adverts three decades ago. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">1989 - a simpler time. Beta MAX/YouTube.</span></figcaption>
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<p>By exploiting injustice for commercial purposes, Nike may be undermining or demeaning the causes it declares to support. All of this begs the question of what relation social justice and equality bears to training shoes anyway.</p>
<p>Nike’s choice of Kaepernick to front the latest ad campaign commercialises issues such as racism, Islamophobia and human rights violations. Their framing of these problems beneath one catchy slogan seems to imply that there is equivalence between the experiences of kneeling NFL players, Muslim women wearing hijabs in a boxing gym, people overcoming cancer and urban white male skateboarders. </p>
<p>It’s all further complicated by Nike’s own internal ethical struggles. Nevertheless, despite the knee-jerk reaction among shoe burning ex-customers, sentiment already seems to be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/nikes-controversial-bet-on-kaepernick-has-millennial-investors-piling-into-the-stock/articleshow/65711140.cms">bouncing back in Nike’s favour</a>. The company should expect positive medium and long-term results. </p>
<p>In the meantime, every training shoe that Nike antagonists burn <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/06/nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad-created-163point5-million-in-media-exposure.html">generates more attention</a> and therefore revenue for the company. Critics discount the current advertising campaign at their peril. </p>
<p>We should expect more of this kind of corporate support for social issues in Trump’s divided America. Capitalism and activism have always been uneasy bedfellows, but companies should be wary of appropriating social justice movements and equating buying products to fighting for human rights. Nike, and other companies, risk exposing their own skeletons in the closet by taking these high and mighty stances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102922/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nike has reaped a whirlwind in their latest ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, but it’s the inevitable windfall they’re likely interested in.Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordSarah Zipp, Lecturer in Sport Management, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1026952018-09-13T14:37:06Z2018-09-13T14:37:06ZWhat’s behind the current wave of ‘corporate activism’?<p>Recent years have witnessed the emergence of what appears to be a new breed of business person: the corporate activist. Hardly a week goes past without the head of some blue chip or other publicly agitating for a better world, be they <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/11/apple-ceo-tim-cook-discusses-equal-rights-privacy-and-the-environment.html">Tim Cook, CEO of Apple</a>, speaking out on the environment and LGBTQI+ rights, or <a href="https://www.eater.com/2017/8/17/16161342/howard-schultz-starbucks-hate-speech-neo-nazis">Starbucks founder Howard Schultz</a> bemoaning “the violence, hatred, and empowerment of white supremacists” at a nationalist rally in Charlottesville. </p>
<p>A recent article in the <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/01/the-new-ceo-activists">Harvard Business Review</a> even offered a “CEO activist’s playbook” as a “guide for leaders who are deciding whether to speak out and how”.</p>
<p>A closely allied trend is so-called “<a href="https://www.clickz.com/brand-activism-campaigns-focus-social-good/207888/">brand activism</a>” in which businesses launch carefully designed “social good” campaigns aimed at building awareness about a particular issue while also promoting a positive corporate message. Recent high-profile cases include outdoor clothing firm Patagonia’s “<a href="http://www.patagonia.com/protect-public-lands.html">The President Stole Your Land</a>” campaign to protect national parks in the US, or Nike’s adverts featuring Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback who first knelt during the national anthem to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/45418171">highlight racial injustice</a>. </p>
<p>You might be forgiven for dismissing all this as merely the latest examples of cynical rebranding, all of a piece with the worst examples of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/aug/20/greenwashing-environmentalism-lies-companies">greenwash</a> cooked up by boardroom executives and slick marketing consultants to peddle more “politically correct” products to the gullible while boosting shareholder value. </p>
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<p>But perhaps this time we need to look a little closer. More than ever, the customary dividing lines between activism and business are blurring, as the corporate world, driven by <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-rise-of-activist-employees_us_591b2001e4b086d2d0d8d2d6">millennials in management positions</a>, becomes a force for fighting for social and environmental issues.</p>
<p>So, what’s causing this new phenomenon?</p>
<h2>1. Donald Trump</h2>
<p>It’s all-too tempting to blame the 45th president of the US and his divisive policies for provoking the corporate world – often his target during his <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-rexnord-idUSKBN13S0PU">2016 election rallies</a> – to find a conscience and start speaking up for what they feel is right. Indeed, Trump’s failure to condemn the Charlottesville neo-Nazis prompted not just Starbucks but the head honchos at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/19/business/moral-voice-ceos.html">General Motors, JP Morgan and Walmart</a> to speak out. </p>
<p>However, big business has been on the defensive since the 2008 global recession as populist, nativist politicians have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2014/jun/02/economic-insecurity-nationalism-on-the-rise-globalisation-nouriel-roubini">blamed it</a> for the world’s ills – which makes it all the more crucial for companies to secure a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/29/virgin-airlines-no-longer-help-deport-immigrants-lgbt-windrush">moral high ground</a>. Staying out of politics is no longer an option for the corporate world, even if its tactics can sometimes clash with strategies to optimise profits.</p>
<h2>2. Loss of public space</h2>
<p>In times gone, protesters would instinctively take to streets to air their grievances and champion change with the Occupy movement and Arab Spring protests being well-known examples. But as public space is increasingly privatised, monitored and secured with ever more powerful military-style policing, activists are being <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/45cd3dbe-34dd-11e7-99bd-13beb0903fa3">forced off the streets</a>. If their voice can’t be heard there, new venues must be identified and exploited. And that includes the workplace, where activist employees now settle to struggle.</p>
<h2>3. New technology</h2>
<p>Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms allow people to reach an audience that would have been unimaginable a mere decade ago. No longer are the means of mass communication wholly controlled by a select group of powerful state and private interests. And, as these potent tools often enable anonymous communication, company employees can be as active with their resistance as the “die-hard” NGO activist. More like <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42652161">whistleblowers</a> than <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenhigginbottom/2014/04/14/social-media-ignites-employee-activism/#2fa1c5796de4">advocates</a>. </p>
<h2>4. We’re at work more often</h2>
<p>Since proper activism needs <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/eurocrisispress/2014/07/11/no-time-for-activism-the-changing-face-of-protest-movements/">time</a>, what happens as we spend more and more time at work? A recent study in the US found that those in higher-paid professions were more likely to clock in longer hours, with 30% of management and legal workers putting in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/jun/30/america-working-hours-minimum-wage-overworked">45 hours every week</a>. In the UK it’s a similar story – many parents now work the equivalent of <a href="https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/nursery-world/news/1163415/working-parents-pushed-to-breaking-point-by-long-hours-culture">an extra day every week</a> beyond their contract. </p>
<p>In truth, it’s probably worse than that as few of us can resist checking work emails on our phones <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/remote-access-people-work-emails-check-5-times-outside-office-hours-40-per-cent-life-balance-a7703776.html">outside office hours</a> – we’re voluntarily on-call 24-7. With so much time at work, is it any wonder that activism, and expressions of personal politics, need to be logistically squeezed in there? </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-working-on-your-commute-it-doesnt-benefit-anyone-102459">Stop working on your commute – it doesn't benefit anyone</a>
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<p>If 21st-century corporate activism actually changes anything, it will be thanks to those who Stanford University professor Debra Meyerson calls “<a href="https://www.instructionalcoaching.com/temperedradicals/">tempered radicals</a>”. These are people “who want to succeed in their organisations yet want to live by their values or identities, even if they are somehow at odds with the dominant culture of their organisations”. </p>
<p>Many of these former activists now occupy positions within enterprising organisations. They may be viewed with suspicion from both outside and within the business world, but nevertheless they might quietly be changing society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steffen Böhm has received funding from: British Academy, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), East of England Co-operative Society, Swedish Energy Agency, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), though he writes in a personal capacity.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annika Skoglund receives funding from the Ragnar Söderberg foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Eatherley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Four reasons why the line between activism and business is blurring.Steffen Böhm, Professor in Organisation & Sustainability, University of ExeterAnnika Skoglund, Associate Professor, Uppsala UniversityDan Eatherley, Senior Research Fellow, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1027072018-09-05T06:33:26Z2018-09-05T06:33:26ZNike’s courageous new ad campaign mixing racial politics with sport will be vindicated<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234973/original/file-20180905-45178-oi2dsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NFL player Colin Kaepernick, centre, started a protest against police violence by kneeling during the US National Anthem in 2016. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">JOHN G MABANGLO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sports apparel giant Nike stirred up controversy on Monday when it unveiled its “Just Do It: 30th anniversary” advertising campaign. It featured a variety of superstar American athletes including the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/taking-a-knee-national-anthem-nfl-trump-why-meaning-origins-racism-us-colin-kaepernick-a8521741.html">polarising quarterback Colin Kaepernick</a>, who started the Bend the Knee protests in the NFL in September 2016. </p>
<p>The protests had initially targeted police violence against people of colour but broadened into a wider protest against US President Donald Trump after he said any player who knelt during the anthem was a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/22/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-protests">“son of bitch”</a>. Trump, who continues to suggest that the NFL should withhold the kneeling players’ <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/398146-trump-demands-roger-goodell-make-a-stand-on-players-kneeling">salaries</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/04/donald-trump-colin-kaepernick-nike-ad-campaign-response">said the new Nike ad</a> was a “terrible message … that shouldn’t be sent”. </p>
<p>Nike’s ad featured a powerful black and white photo of Kaepernick telling consumers to “believe in something. Even if means sacrificing everything.” The hastag #JustDoIt struck a chord, trending for 24 hours on Twitter. </p>
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<p>There was an immediate <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nikes-colin-kaepernick-ad-ridiculous-he-has-sacrificed-nothing-opinion-1104855">backlash from conservatives</a> against the Nike advert. On social media, fans posted images and videos of burnt Nike jerseys and shoes using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23JustBurnIt&src=tyah">#justburnit</a>.</p>
<p>In a tweet that went viral, country musician John Rich showcased socks with the <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1036751396002050050">Nike swoosh cut out</a>. Nike’s stock price tumbled, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/04/nike-shares-tumble-after-company-reveals-new-ad-campaign-featuring-colin-kaepernick.html">losing 3% percent in market value</a>. </p>
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<p>Not all the response to the Kaepernick ad has been negative. Many people support the NFL protests, and celebrities like the rapper Common, and Russell Crowe (along with Serena Williams, who is sponsored by Nike) joined in the #justdoit conversation online. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-us-sports-stars-are-taking-a-knee-against-trump-84605">Why US sports stars are taking a knee against Trump</a>
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<h2>Corporate activism</h2>
<p>Perhaps no company is more aware of the power of popular political activism than Nike. In the 1990s, a popular consumer boycott in response to Nike’s environmental and labor practices severely undermined the company’s profits. </p>
<p>In joining forces with the Bend the Knee movement, Nike joins a host of companies taking on <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/137252/whats-driving-corporate-activism">progressive political causes</a> including LGBT rights, tax reform, and free speech. Most recently, in the US, the sporting goods retailer <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/02/28/dicks-sporting-goods-bans-sales-assault-weapons-after-parkland-florida-school-shooting/380382002/">Dick’s</a> stopped selling assault weapons after a student killed classmates in Florida with a gun purchased from one of their stores. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinemoorman/2018/09/04/big-brands-and-political-activism-what-do-marketers-think/#27e802b57cc9">Marketing experts are divided</a> over the wisdom of companies engaging in political action. Activism can show consumers that companies care about more than profits, but as conservatives’ reaction to Nike shows, taking a stand can be risky.</p>
<p>Over the long term, Nike probably hopes to benefit from this stand: its key demographics in the US and worldwide are younger and blacker than the people protesting them. <a href="https://twitter.com/b_schaffner/status/1036987938008166405">Younger Americans are said to strongly support</a> Kaepernick’s protest, and they are the biggest consumers of Nike products. Nike also knows that consumers develop brand loyalty early in their lives and maintain it for a long time. </p>
<p>Nike probably also faced considerable pressure from athletes who are increasingly using their personal brands to engage in politics. Basketballer Lebron James, Nike’s biggest spokesman in the NBA, has feuded with the Donald Trump and <a href="https://theundefeated.com/features/lebron-james-vs-president-donald-trump-a-one-sided-battle/">condemned his policies as racist</a>. Michael Jordan has <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/trump-lebron-james-tweet/index.html">sided with James </a> against the embattled president.</p>
<p>Conservatives that want to avoid athletes and clothing retailers affiliated with Bend the Knee will find it <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/4/17818148/nike-boycott-kaepernick">increasingly hard to do so</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://operations.nfl.com/updates/the-game/nfl-announces-the-2018-regular-season-schedule/">NFL’s return this weekend</a> will only reignite the debate over the anthem protests. With almost the whole sports world seemingly arrayed against their politics it is easy to understand why some Republicans, like Fox News Host Laura Ingram, just want athletes such as James to “<a href="https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/02/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-fox-news-laura-ingraham-shut-up-and-dribble-donald-trump-response-uninterrupted-video">shut up and dribble</a>.”</p>
<p>Colin Kaepernick and other athletes (while no doubt being handsomely paid by Nike) are boldly speaking out. In the future, Kaepernick and Nike will be vindicated for their bravery.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Rathbone does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nike has provoked a conservative backlash by using NFL player Colin Kaepernick in its latest campaign. But the move should be applauded.Keith Rathbone, Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.