Nike's Bombing Stock Is a Long-Term 'Get Woke, Go Broke' Story

Nike used to be a sports apparel company. I mean, it still is technically, but like many corporations since the turn of the millennium, its original business model was just the mechanism by which it could fund what its true product was: "the message." Of all the companies that practically lit themselves on fire for causes no one believed in, Nike was one of the more infuriating. It seemed to embrace leftism on a level that many other corporations didn't. In fact, instead of just flouting their "support" for whatever leftist umbrella group was in vogue at the time, their strategy was to be confrontational about it. Pushing figures like Colin Kaepernick in front of the camera was a bold strategy, Cotton, and it didn't work out for them. Nike assumed they were too big to fail. So did Goliath. People turned away en masse, and thanks to this being the age of the internet, they didn't just rush to other corporations either. The corporate sector was leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many, so they explored companies more concerned with innovation than messaging. As I write this, I'm currently wearing a pair of HOKA tennis shoes, shoes that are both fashionable and very functional. Like walking on a cloud. My wife has a pair. Every nurse I've seen in the last year wears them. My podiatrist was thrilled when I told him I own a pair, and he was very adamant that I wear them as much as possible. The only time I hear Nike come up anymore is either in reference to their failure as a company or when a piece of entertainment brings up Jordans. Nike's insistence on giving everyone the middle finger in defiance of normalcy took it from being a sports apparel giant with no equal to an afterthought for many. Don't get me wrong, it still brings in quite a bit of money and has deals with almost every major sport, but it feels like an empire that's slowly collapsing. The numbers are there to confirm that. As reported by Bull Theory, Nike is being removed from the S&P 500 after half a decade of stock decline. BREAKING: Nike is getting removed from the S&P 100 after 18 years as the stock crashes 79% in the last 5 years. pic.twitter.com/3Wem6PphHO Nike forgot what it was and tried to be something that the number crunchers thought would make it successful in the "modern age." So much of that strategy was pretending to be on the side of whatever the left labeled as "the oppressed," at least at that time. Hilariously, that didn't work out for anybody. Nike's momentum as the leader in sports apparel just let it hang onto its reputation a tad longer than the others. What has to be acknowledged, however, is that it gained that solid reputation through truly connecting with people. For instance, it was one of the first sports companies to truly embrace women in sports, and it did so very well. Stop and think, for one moment, if you can remember a Nike commercial aimed at women. I mean a truly memorable one. You probably can't, because you're looking in the wrong place in your memory, but it's there if you saw the film "What Women Want," a rom-com movie starring prime Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt working at an ad agency which, during the course of the film, was creating an ad for Nike. It was a really good ad, too, and the reason it was so good is that Nike's marketing team actually made it. The tagline still stuck with me for years and years, and the funny part is that it wasn't even aimed at me. "No games. Just sports." This singular scene was proof that Nike actually understood itself. It was a for-women placed in a very successful rom-com, voiced by the smooth tones of a very popular and well-liked actor, and it encouraged women to make sports and exercise personal to them. Something that's theirs. Compare that to the new Nike, which wants women to see them glazing a man who thinks he's a woman for social credit. The insubstantiality of that is wildly obvious when you watch the scene above. Back then, they were trying to speak to women, and now they just want to speak at women. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Nike is trying to talk down to them by shoving something in their faces that's insulting to them, even if they agree with it outwardly. To get punny, Nike took their eye off the ball, and independent companies on the internet snatched it. Wall Street is just now getting around to admitting it happened, but the lesson here should be plain. Get woke, go broke. Brandon Morse is a Senior Editor. Culture critic, and video creator. YouTuber. Good at bad photoshops. Of Erika Kirk, Rush, and Grief Report: Iran Warns South Korea Hormuz Deployment Would Mean War Canada Reboots Chinese Defense Ties and Beijing Gets to Write the Press Release 1 Monday Morning Meme Madness 2 Jared Kushner Has Perfect Response to NBC News' Snide Question About Russia-Ukraine Trip 3 It Looks Like We've Made a Big Step in Combating Alzheimer's Daily Challenge Guess the 5-letter word in 6 tries. A new patriotic challenge every day.