NEW YORK, NY Sept. 4 (DPI) – Nike, whose marketing has always been clean, bold and a bit edgy, unveiled a politically risky promotional campaign with former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick and header declaring “Believe in Something. Even if it Means Sacrificing Everything.”

If nothing else the promotion garnered a tsumani of free publicity today for Nike.  But it also only intensified America’s stark divisions – including those between beer-swilling conservative football fans and social progressives who now regard Kaepernick as civil rights icon.

The company’s stock fell 3% on news of the campaign this morning, and the company seemed to backtrack from its initiative, saying a press release that Kaepernick was “among many athletes” in a new ad campaign.

But the ad itself was striking for plunging headlong into such a sensitive and divisive area of American life, clearly aware of the consequences and happy to live with them. As one poster on WSJ.com wrote: “Mixing politics and business is bad business, and recent events prove it over and over again.”

Both The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal reported on the development this morning, and reader comments on those news sites reflected the continued divide. The top most-popular comments from The Times:

I’m an old white lady in a very white state who had never paid any attention to football nor heard of Kaepernick until the controversy. I think it’s time I get me some Nikes.

Mr. Kaepernick had the strength to risk his career to protest racial injustice how anyone could not admire the courage to do this is is beyond me.The anthem is a bunch of words without meaning unless given some context by action. Thank you Mr. Kaepernick for your actions.

Congratulations, Nike. I love the ad, I love the fact that you chose Colin. Let´s show what greatness is.

Time will tell, but I think Kaepernick, who was originally a blip in a very crowded and frantic news cycle, will become a major figure in civil rights. Hopefully when he takes his righteous place in American history, you’ll be telling your grandchildren that you understood his message and supported him….and not that you got suckered into Trump’s demagoguery, demanding that players stand in fealty to him.

I’m 71 years old, living with Parkinson’s Disease. I don’t run much, anymore, I do stumble around. To the the best of my knowledge, Nike doesn’t make ‘stumbling old man shoes’, but I don’t care. I’ll go a Nike outlet and let them sell me a modest pair of shoes, just because of their choice on this matter. Good job, Nike…

And the top comments from WSJ.com this morning:

Nike just lost a lifelong customer.  Never again. They will never see another penny of my money.

I believe in something. I believe I’ve bought my last swoosh.

I can’t boycott the NFL because I don’t watch it.  But I can boycott this idiotic company.

SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT
1. A quarterback in decline decided to cancel his $16.5 million dollar contract
2. Turns to anti-American activism instead
3. Turns down contracts at three different NFL teams
4. Then claims “collusion” by owners not to hire him “Professional victim”
5. Is now suing the NFL for not hiring him because he is black and a radical and sucks
6. Has reached the pinnacle of his career as a “Victim”
7. And NIKE endorses Colin as the perfect anti-American and great role model