Watch the highlighted line carefully:
A pair of shoes are set aflame with a cigarette lighter, captured on video and shared widely online to protest a political statement made by the manufacturer.
The New Balance shoes were burned by their owners two years ago after a spokeswoman indicated the company’s support for President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Nike now finds itself in a similar position on the other side of the political spectrum as some customers cut up its products or burn them because of the company’s decision to make Colin Kaepernick the face of its “Just Do It” 30th anniversary campaign.
With the Kaepernick campaign, Nike is embracing activism and racial justice at a time when shoe companies can no longer avoid the nation’s political division.After years of building billion-dollar brands around sports celebrities, shoe and apparel makers now find themselves flashpoints in the political, racial and cultural clashes surrounding the Trump administration.
Really? Shoe companies can no longer avoid the politics?
Who would have thought that shoes were a political item of apparel? It’s footwear, for heaven’s sake!