Nike took a major gamble aligning its brand with exiled quarterback Colin Kapernick—and on Sunday, their risk yielded what most would’ve never expected: an Emmy.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Nike’s controversial “Dream Crazy” ad featuring the former NFL star won for Outstanding Commercial at the 2019 Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
The controversial two-minute ad debuted during the Thursday night opener of the 2018 NFL season and features Kapernick encouraging viewers to “believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”
Laden with inspiring imagery, the ad includes a teenager overcoming his disability in order to compete in a scholastic wrestling match and a young girl playing high school football. When LeBron James appears onscreen, Kaepernick says, “Don’t become the best basketball player on the planet; be bigger than basketball.”
Yet, despite its uplifting message, the ad was met with plenty of backlash. Threats to boycott the sneaker manufacturer poured in due to its perceived support of Kapernick and his ongoing national anthem protest—which was likely fueled, at least in part, by our kleptocrat-in-chief and his signature tweetstorms.
“Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts,” he tweeted. “I wonder if they had any idea that it would be this way? As far as the NFL is concerned, I just find it hard to watch, and always will, until they stand for the FLAG!”
Unfortunately for Trump, that Nike boycott was a resounding bust. In July, we reported that Nike’s market value jumped $3 billion after Kap intervened when Nike was about to embarrass itself with the release of sneakers prominently featuring the original Betsy Ross flag.
And with this much-deserved Emmy win, it appears that Nike and Kapernick are a match made in heaven, whether he steps on a football field ever again or not.