Nike’s online sales surge after Kaepernick ads revealed: report

Nike’s online sales appear to have surged in the week since it announced Colin Kaepernick as the face of its latest ad campaign.

According to data released from Edison Trends, a digital commerce research company based in Silicon Valley, online sales for the sportswear brand grew 31 percent from last Sunday through Tuesday.

They noted that the growth is also a 17 percent gain over the number recorded for the same period in 2017, the new report found. 

{mosads}“There was speculation that the Nike/Kaepernick campaign would lead to a drop in sales, but our data over the last week does not support that theory,” the company said in a statement obtained by Fortune magazine.

The signing of Kaepernick, who was the first NFL player to protest racial inequality and police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem before games, generated backlash from critics of the protest movement.

President Trump, a frequent critic of the anthem protests, also spoke out against the ad campaign.

“Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts,” the president tweeted Wednesday.

A small private college in Missouri said earlier this week it will end its use of uniforms displaying the Nike logo due to the athletic brand’s decision. And a store in Colorado has said it will be removing all Nike merchandise following the move.

The brand’s stock initially fell more than 3 percent following the announcement of their endorsement deal with Kaepernick, who was the first NFL player to protest racial inequality and police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem before games.

The stock has since risen but has not fully recovered in the past few days.

In the new Nike ad, Kaepernick says, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.” He remains a free agent quarterback, unable to get a job in the NFL since the end of 2016 after becoming the face of the protest movement. 

Edison Trends said it analyzed purchases from 3 million Americans’ email receipts to amass the data in addition to reviewing the purchases of any Nike products from over 200 U.S. retail outlets over the three-day stretch.

Apex Marketing Group said that the controversy has led to the company receiving $43 million worth of media exposure.