02/15/06 Nike and Bode

When products take on an icon status they often take liberty to push societal boundaries. Naturally principled people then must push back by refusing to purchase the product. Consumers reined in Abercrombie and Fitch when affronted with provocative advertisements to pre-teens. Now Nike should be scrutinized for the values they are promoting to youth. Bode Miller is an amazing Olympic skier, but read his biography, he doesn't want to be a role model for children and he says so in quite graphic terms. Irregardless Nike is paying him millions to be precisely that, in their Join Bode campaign. Their new print ad features Bode's mug with the caption, "Join the unwillingness to give in. Join the idea that fun is the source of all joy. Join doing things your way. Join not joining. etc&etc&. Join Bode. Self serving, self centered and self absorbed are hardly be attributes we want to young Olympics hopefuls to exemplify or our little leagues teams for that matter. If Nike continues to promotes Bode, that won't "bode" well with me! I say the "swoosh" needs a swat! And I need a new logo on my running shoes. I'm Susan Allen and this is Food Forethought. Source: New York times Magazine February 2006