Colin Kaepernick Nike Ad Generated $43 Million In Media Exposure

The Colin Kaepernick ad campaign by Nike predictably polarized the American public but despite the backlash, it has been largely positive for the sportswear company.

On Monday, Kaepernick tweeted the ad, unveiling himself as the face of a campaign for the 30th anniversary of Nike's "Just Do It" slogan, with the message reading, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."

A reference to how Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem in protest toward racial inequality and violence, having since been unsigned by an NFL team, many were not pleased with it.

Some poured their outrage on social media threatening to boycott Nike while others posted videos of themselves burning merchandise. In addition, Nike's shares dropped roughly 3 percent Tuesday morning.

However, there were also many who praised Nike and stood with Kaepernick, as according to Apex Marketing Group, the campaign generated $43 million in media exposure in the 24 hours since its unveiling, with just $10.91 million being negative.

Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing executive at Baker Street Advertising, believes it proves the benefits of endorsing Kaepernick far outweigh the risks of alienating a portion of their customer base.

"It’s not a move that any company can make, but for Nike it’s definitely smart business," Dorfman said.

Social media management tool Sprinklr added via ESPN there were 3.4 million mentions of Nike on Twitter in the first 21 hours after Kaepernick's tweet. In addition, the #JustDoIt hashtag had more than 400,000 mentions while Kaepernick had 1.5 million mentions in the same time period.

President Donald Trump, who has attacked Kaepernick and others in the past for their protesting, was not pleased with the Nike campaign.

However, he and many others will likely get even more frustrated as Nike revealed their plans of airing a "Just Do It" commercial during the NFL season opener between the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night.

Kaepernick tweeted the commercial Wednesday as it features him voicing over a number of athletes, including himself, such as LeBron James, Serena Williams, Odell Beckham Jr., Eliud Kipchoge, Lacey Baker, and more.

A Nike spokesman also told the New York Times the commercial will air during tennis, college football and Major League Baseball events this week.

Kaepernick has not played in the NFL since 2016 and is currently involved in a lawsuit against them for allegedly colluding to keep him out of the league.

It makes the current situation with Nike, who signed a 10-year extension of their rights deal with the NFL earlier this year, a particularly awkward one for the league. Last week, arbitrator Stephen Burbank notably denied the NFL's request to dismiss Kaepernick's case, which means the latter seemingly has enough evidence for the case to go ahead to trial.