Nike’s announcement Monday it would make Colin Kaepernick the face of its “Just Do It” campaign sparked a firestorm on social media -- and literal fires, too.
Some social media users took to Twitter to showcase their frustrations. Videos and photos showed fans completely destroying their Nike-branded apparel, with some going as far as letting the gear go up in flames.
First the @NFL forces me to choose between my favorite sport and my country,” Twitter user Sean Clancy wrote. “I chose country. Then @Nike forces me to choose between my favorite shoes and my country. Since when did the American Flag and the National Anthem become offensive?”
Clancy added a video of burning Nike sneakers to his tweet.
John Rich, of the country music band Big & Rich, also shared a photo of the band’s soundman’s cut-up Nike socks.
Nike announced Kaepernick would be a part of the campaign along with other star athletes, including Serena Williams and Odell Beckham Jr.
“Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt,” Kaepernick, who has been with Nike since 2011 and hasn’t played a down of football since he failed to re-sign with the 49ers following the 2016 season, posted on Twitter.
Ex-CIA Director John Brennan and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad joined a strangely diverse chorus of support for Kaepernick.
Brennan, CIA Director from 2013-2017, tweeted his support for the former quarterback-turned-social-justice-activist.