Market Fracturing

[Timsup2nothin]

The recent decision by Nike to use Colin Kaepernick in their marketing has finally pushed me to set out some thoughts on this topic. It isn't the first "good in blue at cost in red" example I've seen, but it is so high profile that even people who aren't that interested in marketing probably have some thoughts on it.

Nike reported a 31% jump in on-line sales year over year for Labor day weekend, and of course numerous athletes and celebrities contributed by going on "here's some Nike's" social justice warpaths. Meanwhile, assorted sporting goods stores in relatively podunk places made some publicity out of taking Nike off their shelves, some red neck universities got stories carried on Breibarf by switching to UnderArmor or some other "patriotic" brand. Those brands are stuck treading the fine line between saying "yeah, don't" so that Nike doesn't pull away any further in the markets that matter and the red state market's insane belief that they deserve to be totally catered to despite representing maybe a quarter of the US market, at best.

Are we headed towards such a chasm that companies will be forced to choose and sacrifice the part of the market they choose against? Franchisees of Papa John's in Los Angeles are livid that after years without an NFL team they finally have one (two if you count the Chargers) to use for marketing just in time for their corporate overlords to piss away their position as "official pizza of the NFL." I have no doubt that somewhere in podunk there is a Pizza Hut that is horrified that their Sunday "come and don't watch football" promotion has been flushed down the crapper by Pizza Hut taking over with the NFL just when they were getting all twelve people in podunk to turn out for the big event.

At the end of the day, I think that if forced pretty much every company, except maybe John Deere, would have to opt for the "blue" market and cut the red loose. What impact does that have? Is it unavoidable that it will come to that? What happens to national network advertising, do we have to reduce all ad purchases to regional runs? What happens to companies that already have gigantic investment in both markets?

 

[Synobun]

This is nothing new in the greater scheme of things. Businesses used to love denying service to undesirables. Good marketing is already regional. So on and so forth.

I'm mostly indifferent if conservatives find themselves out of luck in their purchasing habits as ultimately it's a result of their choices and not something they're born with. If you decide that being hateful is a core component of your identity and you're willing to hurt others to maintain it, then I can't really feel sorry if certain businesses pull away from offering you their goods. This is especially true when the "pulling away" is being done by the supposedly aggrieved party. They're making the choice to "boycott". It's a problem entirely of their own design.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

This is nothing new in the greater scheme of things. Businesses used to love denying service to undesirables. Good marketing is already regional. So on and so forth.

I'm mostly indifferent if conservatives find themselves out of luck in their purchasing habits as ultimately it's a result of their choices and not something they're born with. If you decide that being hateful is a core component of your identity and you're willing to hurt others to maintain it, then I can't really feel sorry if certain businesses pull away from offering you their goods. This is especially true when the "pulling away" is being done by the supposedly aggrieved party. They're making the choice to "boycott". It's a problem entirely of their own design.

Regional marketing schemes are nothing new. Things work here that don't work there, so that has to be accounted for. But we have entered this era of outrage, where even trying to work here is a big strike against you there, and succeeding makes it even worse.

 

[Chose]

I'm mostly indifferent if conservatives find themselves out of luck in their purchasing habits as ultimately it's a result of their choices and not something they're born with. If you decide that being hateful is a core component of your identity and you're willing to hurt others to maintain it, then I can't really feel sorry if certain businesses pull away from offering you their goods. This is especially true when the "pulling away" is being done by the supposedly aggrieved party. They're making the choice to "boycott". It's a problem entirely of their own design.

And what about the vast majority of conservatives who haven't decided that being hateful is a core component of their identity?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

And what about the vast majority of conservatives who haven't decided that being hateful is a core component of their identity?

I know plenty of conservatives who haven't "embraced hatefulness" but are participating in boycotts as directed by the right wing echo chamber where they get their news. That's what has me really watching this market fracture.

 

[Chose]

I know plenty of conservatives who haven't "embraced hatefulness" but are participating in boycotts as directed by the right wing echo chamber where they get their news. That's what has me really watching this market fracture.

Yeah some of it is the echo chamber, some of it is nothing more than "Nike isn't on our team" and it doesn't go much deeper than that.

 

[Synobun]

And what about the vast majority of conservatives who haven't decided that being hateful is a core component of their identity?

They're still buying Nikes.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Yeah some of it is the echo chamber, some of it is nothing more than "Nike isn't on our team" and it doesn't go much deeper than that.

Right. But the point is that whether hateful, influenced, or just being a good team member, this market segment is specifically taking offense to an attempt to appeal to "the other team." That is the market schism I'm talking about.

 

[Chose]

They're still buying Nikes.

Fair enough. I was just noticing how you started with talking about conservatives and then seemed to imply they all have embraced hatred as a core component of their identity...

I'm just on my "conservatives are people too" shtick.

 

[Synobun]

Fair enough. I was just noticing how you started with talking about conservatives and then seemed to imply they all have embraced hatred as a core component of their identity...

I'm just on my "conservatives are people too" shtick.

I'll admit that as time goes by with this Administration and the GOP I find it more and more difficult to take conservatives seriously. The non-crazies are too comfortable with the crazies doing their thing, making it tough to functionally distinguish between the two groups. That a small group of conservatives are right and truly mad about "BLACK MAN WON'T STAND" is irrelevant when the "reasonable" majority is fine with giving that view a platform and quietly letting it take the stage.

Same thing with the far left, tbh, but one side is in control of the government and the other isn't.

 

[Azem.Ocram]

I saw a meme about hoping Ford would embrace social justice or hire Kapernick or someone like him for marketing just to see hateful rednecks lose everything because they love their trucks, which are usually F150s.

 

[Lexicus]

The most woke(tm) take on this is that social justice isn't going to be sold to us by huge corporations.

 

[BenitoChavez]

The most woke(tm) take on this is that social justice isn't going to be sold to us by huge corporations.

Especially a corporation such as Nike which has a history of treating its non-American employees like crap.

 

[civvver]

Especially a corporation such as Nike which has a history of treating its non-American employees like crap.

That's why I hated the ad, not cus of kaepernick, cus I support him, but because it seems to hypocritical. He protested for social justice in the american police system, yet he is standing up for a company that uses sweatshops and child labor, or at least used to. Sure, I have worn nikes and have an iphone, but I'm not actively advertising for these companies or actively protesting for social change.

 

[Commodore]

The most woke(tm) take on this is that social justice isn't going to be sold to us by huge corporations.

Except it is being sold to you by huge corporations. Congratulations, your little revolution has now officially been hijacked by capitalists for their own financial gain. Now when you support your social justice causes you aren't being some forward-thinking revolutionary like you think you are, but rather you are just being a good little consumer for the corporations.

yet he is standing up for a company that uses sweatshops and child labor, or at least used to.

That's because Kaepernick never really cared about the cause. He didn't start protesting until his NFL career was starting to fall apart and he was hoping the protesting would be a big enough publicity stunt to keep his career afloat and keep that sweet, sweet football money coming in. Since that hasn't worked, he's now taking his act to Nike simply because they are the only ones willing to offer him a paycheck. It's all about the money for Kaepernick. He doesn't give a damn about social justice or police brutality.

 

[Lexicus]

Except it is being sold to you by huge corporations. Congratulations, your little revolution has now officially been hijacked by capitalists for their own financial gain. Now when you support your social justice causes you aren't being some forward-thinking revolutionary like you think you are, but rather you are just being a good little consumer for the corporations.

That, too, has already happened

(big up to @Sommerswerd for this meme format)

That's because Kaepernick never really cared about the cause. He didn't start protesting until his NFL career was starting to fall apart and he was hoping the protesting would be a big enough publicity stunt to keep his career afloat and keep that sweet, sweet football money coming in. Since that hasn't worked, he's now taking his act to Nike simply because they are the only ones willing to offer him a paycheck. It's all about the money for Kaepernick. He doesn't give a damn about social justice or police brutality.

See if you were paying attention to the dude. You would know that this isn't true. Tbh you just sound butthurt because he got some money from Nike.

 

[Commodore]

Tbh you just sound butthurt because he got some money from Nike.

Nah, I'm not butthurt. In fact, I see him as acting like a true American now. He saw a business opportunity and took it. He's making money now and there's nothing more American than that. To quote Mr. French from The Departed: "This is America, if you're not making money you're a <inappropriate word for CFC> douchebag."

 

[Timsup2nothin]

While denigrating the motives of others by reducing them to something you yourself can relate to is undoubtedly intimately revealing, it doesn't exactly illuminate the fracturing of the market that is under examination here.

 

[Hygro]

The most woke(tm) take on this is that social justice isn't going to be sold to us by huge corporations.

Nope, but Nikes will be sold to us.

 

[Mouthwash]

The most woke(tm) take on this is that social justice isn't going to be sold to us by huge corporations.

There may be a case for boycotting Nike for this, ironically. You don't want virtue-signalling to be a rewarding strategy for them.