The Ugly Truth

In Stabiles article, Nike, Social Responsibility, and the Hidden Abode of Production, was an interesting article.  It shows both sides of multinational corporations like Nike.  He discusses Nikes history in that of the “Sneaker Wars.”  This ongoing advertising war between Nike and Reebock sparked a wild fire in the inner cities.  The violence in these cities over something as simple of a pair of shoes amazes me.  I can’t believe that our society has come this far to that we are shedding blood over something as dumb as shoes.  Nike utilizes the idea behind consumers wanting things just because it is the most popular or to prove some sort of “status in the world (197).  This in turn created a war between youthful people who wanted to prove their identities through a pair of sneakers, Nike sneakers.  After this crisis occurred, Nike went into overtime to repair their damaged reputation to the public.  Society has also made us all so consumed with reputation, and Nike certainly demonstrates this.  They launched a crisis management campaign with “anti-racist” advertisements and created the PLAY campaign. 

            I found the part of the article interesting where Stabile discusses the particular contradictions that Nike uses when campaigning.  He talks about the women’s campaign, “if you let me play sports,” in comparison to the Vietnamese women slaving over creating this product under awful wages and working conditions.  Stabile also discusses how Nike uses racially different people in their advertisements, but are usually celebrities whose salaries are extremely higher than the racially different people who are making the product. 

            I’m sure that Nike will be under criticism for as long as they remain in the spotlight, but I found this article interesting in that it showed a different side to the big corporations and the ugly truth about their employees.