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On Monday, Nike announced that Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who initiated the kneeling protest that has consumed the NFL for the past two years, will&nbsp;be the face of a marketing campaign celebrating the 30th anniversary of the company&rsquo;s &ldquo;Just Do It&rdquo; slogan.

The new campaign, <a href="http://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/1036695513251434498?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">first&nbsp;</a><a href="https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/1036695513251434498?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">revealed by </a><a href="http://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/1036695513251434498?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kaepernick</a> on Twitter, has proven predictably divisive. Some Kaepernick critics <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1036751396002050050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1036751396002050050&amp%3Bref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F09%2F04%2Fsports%2Fnike-protests-kaepernick-nfl-.html&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">are destroying their Nike items</a>, while fans are applauding the partnership, <a href="https://twitter.com/Sandman7773/status/1036807602796154882?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">some purchasing Nike apparel and donating it to charities</a>.

The controversy is likely to stay in the headlines for a while, as the Kaepernick ad is only the first spot in the&nbsp;year-long campaign &mdash; <a href="https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/1036769320196616198?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Serena Williams has also signed on to participate</a>&nbsp;&mdash; but The New York Times points out that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/sports/nike-colin-kaepernick.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this is far from the first time that Nike has courted controversy</a> with an ad campaign.&nbsp;

The Times piece points to previous Nike campaigns that deliberately poked at hot-button cultural issues. One featured Tiger Woods saying that his skin color still prevented him from joining some country clubs. Another had Charles Barkley tell fans that he was not a role model.&nbsp;

While the new Kaepernick campaign is sure to alienate a large chunk of Nike&rsquo;s consumer base and is <a href="https://twitter.com/Robbin_Young/status/1036957413193072641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1036957413193072641&amp%3Bref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F09%2F04%2Fsports%2Fnike-protests-kaepernick-nfl-.html&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">already drawing calls for boycotts</a>, the Times suggests the effort is calculated to appeal to younger customers, noting that nearly two-thirds of Nike customers are under 35.

Read the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/sports/nike-colin-kaepernick.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbusiness&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">full article at nytimes.com</a>.

Image courtesy of <a href="https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=nike-courts-controversy-with-kaepernick-campaign-2707752" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@Kaepernick7 on Twitter</a>.

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