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SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports Jarrett Bell says it's great that Colin Kaepernick is the face of a new Nike campaign, but Kaepernick deserves to be part of an NFL team.
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Colin Kaepernick is shown in a new Nike advertisement.(Photo: AP)

The question on Friday morning was not whether President Trump would have tweeted about the debut of Colin Kaepernick's ad on Nike, but if that would be the first thing he would have tweeted about after waking up.

And here it is, first thing on the presidential file at 6:56.

"What did Nike think?" Trump tweeted quite briefly and directly.

But if you watched the NBC network commercial in the third quarter of the season opener between the Falcons and the Eagles, it's obvious that Nike is thinking of the national anthem.

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All you need to know about Nike's ultimate goal with the Kaepernick campaign is contained in the first minute of the ad. It starts with a skater falling off a rail, a child without legs on a wrestling mat, an African American boy who could not be 10 years old running on a track, a young woman wearing the hijab, a surfer , a Pop Warner Football Match and a blonde girl playing football against boys in high school.

It's not consumers that Nike could lose in anger against Kaepernick. It is about cultivating an entire generation of consumers who are looking for a time when the boundaries between culture, politics and activism are unclear – a notion that could put elderly people at a disadvantage. comfortable, but which is now the reality of the under 18s. .

Ironically, if you remove Kaepernick from advertising, there is nothing controversial about the pictures and the words it contains. "Do not ask if your dreams are crazy; Ask them if they're crazy enough "seems to be a slogan for virtually every Nike advertising campaign, a direct link to the" Just Do It "slogan that the company celebrates with its 30th anniversary.

Each of these images is related to the general theme of difference, to the fight against a type of obstacle or stereotype, which fits well with Kaepernick's reason for being rather than playing in the quarter in the NFL.

But it also seems designed to attract teenagers, without the need to align with Kaepernick's political and social views.

Yes, it's Kaepernick's voice and his image at the end, walking down a street with a black turtleneck under a beige coat. But there is nothing in the advertising that connects him to football or the NFL, even though his own story – adopted by white parents, getting a Nevada scholarship and the quarter finalist of the Super Bowl – son of Inspiration like the people he tells.

Moreover, the only allusion of the commercial to the protest he has provoked is subtle. While the camera sees Kaepernick from behind – you recognize him by his Afro character – he stands and watches an agitated American flag projected onto a building.

Then, while Kaepernick leaves the frame, the images of the youths in the ad appear in these buildings and the words are displayed on the screen: "It's crazy until you do it. Do it."

Launching Kaepernick from this angle is interesting because he is the only person in the advertising not to play a sport or to wear Nike equipment. This seems intentional, as if to acknowledge that he has gone beyond the sporting context and has become the specialist of these political and cultural times.

And when you think about what Nike is really trying to accomplish here, it makes perfect sense.

Although Nike has been the country's largest sports and sportswear company for a generation, Adidas has grown steadily, especially with young people. In the second quarter of 2018, Adidas made a profit of $ 485 million, breaking Wall Street's expectations. This follows nine consecutive quarters in which the company's sales have increased by at least 20%.

Fueled by its alliance with pop stars such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, Adidas has gained ground and has surpassed Jordan Brand (Nike's affiliate) last year as # 2 in the sneaker game.

Nike did not really have a comparable face, and many of its best athletes to whom they have been associated outside the NBA (such as Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Serena Williams) are at the end of their career and do not necessarily identify with adolescents. But that's what shoe companies have to do: understand not only who their customers are now, but who will be their customers in five years, ten years and beyond.

This is what it is for. We are about to welcome a generation of grown-up children who grew up with politics being injected into almost every area of ​​life. It's a good thing for others, but it's a time that comes and Nike is looking for a way to take advantage of this situation.

Kaepernick probably will not sell a lot of shoes to my contemporaries. But has the announcement that played Thursday night echoed by high school students growing up in a confused, polarized and politically active era? Nike is counting on her.