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« Last post by SVPete on October 24, 2026, 10:39:09 AM »Nike Bets on Politics. Investors Paid the Price.
https://townhall.com/columnists/curtishill/2026/10/23/nike-bet-on-politics-investors-paid-the-price-n2685092
For several decades, Nike competed on the basis of innovation and quality. Lurching into socio-political activism was worse than setting aside the core of their business. They foreknowingly decided to alienate a significant segment of their customer base and potential future customers. It's taken a bit over a decade, but, combined with other false steps, the chickens have come come to the track, trails, and streets, wearing Hoka, Saucony, ASICS, New Balance, etc..
https://townhall.com/columnists/curtishill/2026/10/23/nike-bet-on-politics-investors-paid-the-price-n2685092
Quote
Nike built an iconic brand by selling performance, not politics. So what happened when politics became part of the product?
For a generation, Nike rose on product innovation, sharp marketing, and a short list of athletes who made millions of customers want what they wore. Michael Jordan built the Air Jordan into an American franchise. Kids did not buy those shoes because Nike had a political theory on social engineering. They bought them because the shoes represented winning.
Who could have predicted that the creator of the Air Jordan would ever fly right out of the S&P 100?
...
Nike can point to other business factors. China’s market for the once dominant brand cooled. Competitors took shares through innovation and design. A digital-first strategy strained its shoe store partners. Too much of the Nike lineup was old product, sold again.
A serious review does not deny any of that. But it also does not stop there.
A string of high-risk political positions pushed the brand closer to the edge — decisions that had nothing to do with making a better shoe, signing a better athlete, or delivering better returns. The costs did not appear on the balance sheet under a line item called “politics.” They appeared as reputational damage, lost customer goodwill and, ultimately, lost business.
...
The record is very public. In 2018, Nike made Colin Kaepernick the face of its anniversary campaign and treated a shoebox like a soap box. A year later it doubled down by pulling a Betsy Ross–flag sneaker after Kaepernick objected to a founding-era symbol on a patriotic shoe. That was leftist politics exercising a very public veto over an American consumer brand.
After 2020, Nike went further. It set racial representation targets, built race-conscious mentoring and leadership programs, and tied internal incentives to DEI metrics. Those choices are now the subject of an EEOC investigation alleging discrimination against white employees and applicants.
Then came gender politics. Nike scored a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, where 100 means way left. Nike partnered with Dylan Mulvaney of Bud Light fame to sell women’s apparel and covers gender-transition coverage for its employees. That is not a side issue for a brand that spent years selling itself as a champion of women’s sports. You cannot market “Play Like a Girl” with one hand while blurring the line between men’s and women’s competition with the other, and then act surprised when customers notice.
Shareholders have begun to ask fiduciary questions. Nike’s board recently convinced investors to reject a shareholder proposal seeking a report on the legal and reputational risks of Nike’s advocacy partnerships. The vote did not settle the risk; it showed management would rather defend the politics than shelve them.
For several decades, Nike competed on the basis of innovation and quality. Lurching into socio-political activism was worse than setting aside the core of their business. They foreknowingly decided to alienate a significant segment of their customer base and potential future customers. It's taken a bit over a decade, but, combined with other false steps, the chickens have come come to the track, trails, and streets, wearing Hoka, Saucony, ASICS, New Balance, etc..
