Whats wrong with Nike ads?
Nike tricks impressionable kids and teens into thinking “its gotta be the shoes” that will make them the next Jordan or enable them to claim “I am Tiger Woods”. Nikes billions in TV ads also buys them critical silencethe big media have been slow to investigate Nikes abuse of workersand they can expect the same silence from universities. FACT #5. UM student-athletes and athletic staff lose precious freedoms of expression and self-determination: Players sometimes wear black arm bands, in mourning. Its routine freedom of speech. But the contract prohibits UM athletes from taping over their Nike swooshes, in mourning for Nike victims or in proudly disassociating themselves from Nikes crimes [PSC-6]. The universitys codependence on Nike serves to discourage student-athletes even from raising questions about Nike. A university that respects its student-athletes should allow them freedom to discuss and determine for themselves the source of their athletic gear.
