Kasper Rorsted, the CEO of sportswear giant Adidas, distanced himself and his company from Nike’s decision to make Colin Kaepernick the face of their “Just Do It” ad campaign.
Saying that Adidas has a “different view,” from Nike when it came to Kaepernick. And that he couldn’t “can’t say” Adidas would have made Kaepernick the face of an ad campaign.
According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Rorsted said that Adidas would never have hired Kaepernick in the first place.
“I think uniting people is important,” Rorsted said of the Kaepernick ad. “I think it was a good move they made. We have a different view, but we think it was a good view. We need to unite a society, not separate a society.”
Rorsted then tried to delicately dance around whether or not he thought Nike erred for its Kaepernick ad by saying that it was good to “have a point of view.”
“I can’t say we would have done it,” Rorsted said of Nike’s ad. “But I think it is important to have a point of view. We have a point of view on many things, as our competitors have, and I think it’s good to have a point of view.”
Still, it is clear that Rorsted feels that Nike did not move to “unite society” with its Colin Kaepernick “Just Do It” ad.
Adidas CEO on Kanye West and Nike’s Kaepernick campaign from CNBC.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.a
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