Nike Catches Controversy & Conversation with Kaepernick Ad

Nike is pretty good at advertising. For proof, see this. Or this. There’s decades of data to support this claim. So it’s safe to assume the brand knew exactly what it was doing when it signed controversial athlete Colin Kaepernick to a marketing deal. With the premiere of its new ad featuring Kaepernick at the start of the NFL season, viewers got their first glimpse of the Nike-Kaepernick partnership.

Nike’s new “Dream Crazy” commercial—which has been dubbed online as the “Colin Kaepernick ad”—belongs to the school of Nike inspirational ads (which Nike is really good at making). It’s about dreaming big and not being discouraged by what others think. While Kaepernick has minimal screen time, his presence looms over the ad. And his line “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” is a memorable one.

While this ad has been met with plenty of attention and online chatter, we’ll let you decide for yourself whether it’s actually controversial. Share your opinion below.