September 4th was the 30th anniversary of Nike’s Just Do It campaign but instead of being a celebration, something happened that has fans burning their shoes and cutting the Nike swoosh off of their clothing.

One of several athletes that were chosen to represent the 30th anniversary was the almost infamous former quarterback, Colin Kaepernick. Him, and the quote that went along with him, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” have sparked outrage amongst Nike fans.

There are multiple videos and pictures of fans throwing Nike shoes into fires and cutting off the swoosh from Nike socks and more.

There are some big names behind the counter movement as well. “Our soundman just cut the Nike Swoosh off his socks. Former marine. Get ready @Nike multiply that by the millions.” Tweeted by John Rich, a singer/songwriter. The president also threw his voice into the debate. “Just like the NFL, Just like the NFL, whose ratings have gone WAY DOWN, Nike is getting absolutely killed with anger and boycotts. 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!”

On the other side, some are confused or find the idea hilarious. They point out that people have already bought the products and damaging or destroying them does more harm to them than it does to Nike.

Two seniors, Lucas Hatmaker (‘19) and Bre Orik (‘19), shared their thoughts on the topic.

“I wasn’t offended, sure some people were, I wasn’t,” Hatmaker said. He said this about people destroying their gear. “I think that they’re entitled to their own opinions, but just, in the same sense, the other half is entitled is to theirs too. My belief is that it’s kind of excessive because that stuff is pretty expensive.”

On the same topic, Bre Orik said that people are looking too deep and destroying their gear when it is not that related to the Kaepernick story. When asked about how this will impact Nike, this is what she had to say. “I feel like in the long run it’ll start to go away but for right now it’ll probably hurt a little bit, but in the future, it’ll go away.”

Nike’s stocks took a 3% dip and dropped $3, but is surprisingly back on the rise. After Trump tweeted on the matter, people are waiting to see if the companies stocks will come back better than ever, something that happened to the last company, Nordstrom, that Trump went after.

Overall, we will have to wait to see if this has any lasting impact on Nike. Right now, stock is selling at $80.68, up from when the controversy hit, $79.01. Before the controversy, it was at $82.18. If you want to share your thoughts on the topic, leave a comment below. Conversation is the best way to move forward.