A rumor recently surfaced that Nike signed a deal with Michael Vick. Vick's agent supposedly made this claim and Nike recently spoke out saying that they would "supply product to Vick," but he was not under contract with Nike. Even though this was just a rumor, it brought up an interesting topic...what would happen if Nike re-signed Michael Vick?
After the rumor hit Twitter and the rest of the Internet world, media outlets and bloggers all over started sounding off with their opinions on the situation. Although many people said that they didn't agree with what Michael Vick had done in his dog-fighting past, most thought that signing a deal with Vick would be positive for any company.
Sarah Schorno, a blogger for The Washington Post, stated that "any public relations hit a brand would take by endorsing Vick would be negligible compared to the potential financial gain."
Vick's Eagles jersey is still one of the NFL's highest selling and there wasn't much of an uproar when Vick was signed and started playing in the NFL again.
Schorno also posed the question do consumers really care what celebrities and athletes do in their personal lives? Or do consumers buy the merchandise that athletes' endorse just because it's cool or because they want to "be like Mike?"
When I heard the "news" that Nike had signed Vick, I was personally upset. However, I have to admit that if I saw a cool pair of Nike shoes that I wanted, then the fact that Vick was a spokesperson for Nike wouldn't stop me from buying them. Although I hate to admit it, I believe that it would be a positive move for Nike to re-sign Vick. Nike could use Vick to bring in many of the fans that he apparently still has (based on his high jersey sales), and I don't think the adverse effects would stop many people from purchasing Nike. Athletes are going to continue to use equipment and gear from the company that they portray as the best in the business.
In the end, Vick's future success is going to come down to one thing...how good he plays on the football field. If Vick is an all-star on the field and stays out of any major trouble, than any company that signs him now is going to make some big bucks off of him. If Vick doesn't prove himself on the field or gets into trouble again, then he will probably just fall off of the grid and the company that signed him will move on to some other big athlete and all will be forgotten.
Original Articles/Blogs:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/01/michael-vick-nike-cmo-network-vick.html
http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/panelists/2009/10/nike-michael-vick-eagles-endorsement-littal.html
http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/panelists/2009/10/nike-michael-vick-eagles-endorsement-schorno.html
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1 comment:
Let's hope Vick learned his lesson! I'm a big Eagles fan... and I must admit, I enjoy Vick being on our team =D I think he'll prove a lot of people wrong who think he's going to fail or not be grateful for being allowed back in the league. Go Eagles!!
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