What’s off brand for Nike?
Yesterday we found out.
As evidence built up that former cyclist Lance Armstrong had been blood-doping (read: cheating) for more than a decade’s worth of races, Nike announced the termination of their contract with the Livestrong founder and former hero to many. This was pretty shocking news since, as Christine Brennan of USA Today Sports points out, Nike athletes have messed up pretty badly in the past (she mentions Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger and Brett Favre as examples).
But with these guys, the indiscretions weren’t on the field, court, course, or road. And that’s the key difference. While Nike obviously didn’t support these other athletes’ actions, the company was able to overlook them because they didn’t blatantly violate Nike’s core ideals. Yes, they violated some fundamental social agreements but they didn’t stab Nike in its heart like Lance did.
To your average Nike-wearing athlete and to all Nike employees, the purity of the sport, the sacrifice of sweat and hard work, and the stimulating rush of honest competition are everything Nike stands for. To me- despite what they did- Tiger, Kobe, Roethlisberger and Favre still stand for this too. Armstrong no longer does.
Using its brand as a filter, Nike made a pretty easy decision.
* Unfortunately, the news makes this awesome (but completely un-related) Nike Soccer packaging look pretty bad
Sam Liebeskind is a strategist at Wolff Olins New York.
Image by Wolff Olins