The Joke That Tanked Nike’s Multimillion-Dollar Sponsorship

<h1>Nike&rsquo;s Notable Marketing Blunders</h1> <p>Nike has a quirky and sometimes controversial marketing history.</p> <p>There was the racist Betsy Ross flag, which had ties to slavery, and which was quickly called off.</p> <p>There were more subtle controversies, such as sponsoring Jackass star and pro skateboarder, Bam Margera despite not having any shoes designed for skateboarding.</p> <p>Unsurprisingly, Margera hated wearing them. So much so that, to keep his sponsorship, he secretly cut the logos off and put them on other skating shoes.</p> <p>Then there were reports that Nike&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/08/16/under-fire-nike-expands-protections-pregnant-athletes/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">was cutting sponsorships</a>&nbsp;from female athletes who got pregnant and needed time to recover from childbirth. To Nike&rsquo;s credit, they&rsquo;ve since changed their policy to be more mother-friendly, but only after drinking from a cauldron of fire.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/@seanjkernan/this-joke-tanked-nikes-multimillion-dollar-sponsorship-4df6e8f2664a"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>