I'd Like Them to 'Just Do It' in Public

It would be nice to always be cool. Or hot. Or awesome. Or whatever is trendy. But, it's hard to keep up.

It was easy when we could simply follow Nike's advice and "Just Do It."

I could also figure out what kinds of shoes and sports were in vogue by whatever Nike was launching.

But, Nike has let me down.

"Nike Quietly Goes Green," was the headline in a recent "What's Next" section of BusinessWeek.

The story started out well:

"The sole of Nike's new Air Jordan is made with ground-up bits of old Nike sneakers."

Yes, that belongs in "what's next," and it's certainly trendy.

However, the opening paragraph continued:

"But the company isn't selling it as an eco-friendly shoe. That might not be good for business."

The explanation BusinessWeek offers is:

"Nike customers buy shoes to make them feel fast, slick and hip; they don't care much about being eco-chic,"

and later in the story,

"The lesson for Nike was that its green innovations should continue, but its customers shouldn't be able to tell."

Aw, come on, Nike. Just do it, and say it, too. Even non-golfers know how much Tiger Woods likes those greens, and I've seen those olive green LeBron James basketball shorts. Your superstar endorsers are good with green. You should be, too.

Comments

[Charmone]

"... but customers shouldn't be able to tell." What a strange comment - customers should be given more credit than this. Perhaps they don't want to "lead" with green, for fear that the technology or comfort will become secondary, but to not promote is very odd and very disappointing. We need to get to a point where green is a given, not a dirty little secret!

[LeeCalif]

Shows where Nikes' head is.

Up their a$$.

[ewoman]

Perhaps their prudence was well-thought out. Child labor is one issue. Greenpeace recently has exposed their leather supply chain to Bertin, a major destroyer of the Brazilian Amazon rain forest. One Bertin slaughterhouse receives supplies of cattle from an illegal ranch occupying Indian Lands.

[kaseybandit]

With their marketing expertise, you'd think the "green" folks would want to enlist their help.

[jeff01]

I think they are underestimating the consumer. Green is good.

[JoshuaLudd]

Wonderful... now if they can just stop using child labor, I might actually consider buying their shoes or some of the Converse they also own.

[Chip1222]

Glad to hear the shoes finally have a touch of green, but disappointing they won't promote it. Don't athletes care about keeping their fields green?