If being "controversial" were a sport, Nike would beat
Reebok and other competitors in "testing consumer tastes -- and
gullibility," according to Rowan Scarborough of the WASHINGTON
TIMES. Advertising Age columnist Bob Garfield: "With very few
exceptions, Nike advertising is almost never about the shoes
themselves." Garfield criticized Nike's Tiger Woods ads as
"phony." Garfield: "It was phony because Tiger Woods was not a
victim of racism. And so they're exploiting the race issue to
sell golf shoes to black people and I think that's cynical."
Women's Quarterly Editor Danielle Crittenden likens Nike's "If
you let me play" ads to "negative campaigning," but Garfield
says, "It's both rational and very emotional. It advances Nike's
image and builds the market for them. It's a great ad."
LABOR TALK: On a recent CBS report that focused on
allegations of unfair labor practices overseas, Nike spokesperson
Jim Small: "Unfortunately, CBS chose not to tell the whole story.
What she [CBS reporter Roberta Baskin] has done is focus on three
instances [which] had all been dealt with by Nike and the factory
in an appropriate way" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/31).
