My Lifetime with Nike
My Year with Nike - A story of corporate sponsorship, branding, and ethics in public schools (61-65)
Nothing costs more than that, which is given away for free. I remember growing up, I couldn't afford real air force ones. At the beginning of the school year my parents would give me some money so I could shop, for clothes, for the school year. I'd save that money until we visited Brooklyn. Brooklyn holds a special place in my heart, I was born there, was surrounded by loving family there, and when I moved away it acted as a place for me to escape when things at home got too heavy. My cousin Jeffrey, born 3 month apart, has always been a brother to me. When I would visit NY, his house was always my first stop. Actually where ever my parents wanted to go was my first stop, I had no say. Nonetheless, he and I have gotten into so much sh*t over the years and I love him for it. When I would go to NY, for back to school shopping, we would take the L train up to the chinito spot. There they had brand new nike sneakers at a discounted rate because they "fell off the truck". These chinito spots, over the years changed locations due to police raids, but always had the cleanest Nikes for like 40 bucks. Thinking back now, I'm sure they were either fake or stolen, but at the time I just wanted to look fresh for school.
In Rethinking Popular Culture (pages 61-65) a 4th grade teacher working at a title 1 school in Oregon grapples with the ethics of partnering with a corporation like Nike. Rachel Cloues specifically calls out the following as key issues:
Nothing costs more than that, which is given away for free. I remember growing up, I couldn't afford real air force ones. At the beginning of the school year my parents would give me some money so I could shop, for clothes, for the school year. I'd save that money until we visited Brooklyn. Brooklyn holds a special place in my heart, I was born there, was surrounded by loving family there, and when I moved away it acted as a place for me to escape when things at home got too heavy. My cousin Jeffrey, born 3 month apart, has always been a brother to me. When I would visit NY, his house was always my first stop. Actually where ever my parents wanted to go was my first stop, I had no say. Nonetheless, he and I have gotten into so much sh*t over the years and I love him for it. When I would go to NY, for back to school shopping, we would take the L train up to the chinito spot. There they had brand new nike sneakers at a discounted rate because they "fell off the truck". These chinito spots, over the years changed locations due to police raids, but always had the cleanest Nikes for like 40 bucks. Thinking back now, I'm sure they were either fake or stolen, but at the time I just wanted to look fresh for school.
In Rethinking Popular Culture (pages 61-65) a 4th grade teacher working at a title 1 school in Oregon grapples with the ethics of partnering with a corporation like Nike. Rachel Cloues specifically calls out the following as key issues:
- Nike offered an education program which on the surface seemed to benefit the school and students but ultimately the cost out weighted the benefit.
- "Poor schools seem especially vulnerable to states of dependency on this kind of corporate largesse".
- While yes, students were excited and yes students had fun and tried new things, each student was also branded by Nike, given free Nike t-shirts, and like me will probably keep rocking that swoosh because they think thats what makes them fresh.
- She mentions feeling powerless and while she did use her classroom to try and dismantle some of the Nike brainwashing, ultimately the kool-aid was too strong.
- Her call to action is for schools and districts to develop guidelines for relationships with corporations and for corporations to partner with teachers when designing educational programs so that day one, you're not handing kids soda while trying to teach them about living a healthy life.
Do you think that this made kids who were not into sports feel like they had to be athletes now? As great as what Nike was doing it also makes them seem more generous and by getting more publicity.
ReplyDeleteNo, I think exposure is key, in the chapter it spoke about how there were a variety of activities for the kids to do, not just the typical basketball and baseball, but things like rock climbing too. Things that some kids may not otherwise have exposure to. Who knows, that trip to nike might inspire a passion in some kid, maybe to design shoes or maybe to continue rock climbing. But you're right, it was all about the publicity and securing future clients/money and promoting
DeleteWhen I was little, my mom thought I was the most creative child in the world. Together, my mom and I entered contests for advertising. I would create Heinz ketchup ads or Hallmark cards and we would send them to see if I would win a grand prize. Looking back and thinking about how it was a gimmick and how I was internalizing the product and deep diving to make artwork for these companies, scares me. What a technique.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought after reading your blog was how my grandfather would not wear clothes with labels on it. He never understood why he was going to pay more money for a shirt to advertise for a company. He believed if the company wanted him to wear their shirt, then they would have to pay him. Old school logic.
I dig the old school logic a lot! We buy into brands and companies more than people sometimes
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