Nike’s ‘For once, Don’t Do It’ video draws support from Brooks, Adidas

Nike has published a video titled For once, Don’t Do It in response to the protests, riots and political unrest that have arisen across the U.S. following the murder of George Floyd. Competing brands rarely show support for one another – they’re more likely to take jabs at rivals on social media rather than backing each other, but Brooks Running and Adidas have both shared the Nike video. These billion-dollar companies are always fighting for an edge over each other in the world of business, but for now, they are uniting in support of all the people fighting for change in the U.S. and across the world.

George Floyd

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who lived in Minneapolis, died after being detained by police. The arresting officer knelt on Floyd’s neck — not even letting up after Floyd lost consciousness — and stayed there for almost nine minutes. Floyd’s death is the most recent in a long history of police brutality against black citizens across North America, and it has sparked national and global outrage. People everywhere are protesting and rioting for change, and businesses like Nike have released statements to show their support for the cause.

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Don’t do it

The Nike video was published on May 29, four days after Floyd’s death and in the midst of the nationwide riots and protests. The video is short, just 60 seconds long, but it delivers a powerful and important message, flipping Nike’s famous motto, “Just do it,” and changing it to “Don’t do it.”

Together is how we move forward. ⁣
Together is how we make change. https://t.co/U1nmvMhxB2

— adidas (@adidas) May 30, 2020

“Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America,” the video says. “Don’t turn your back on racism. Don’t accept innocent lives being taken from us.” The clip goes on like this, listing more things we shouldn’t do, ending with one final “don’t”: The screen reads, “Don’t think you can’t be part of the change,” before changing to “Let’s all be part of the change.”

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United competitors

Adidas and Brooks both retweeted Nike’s video. The Brooks tweet says, “When we all step up, the world steps forward,” and the Adidas post is captioned, “Together is how we move forward. Together is how we make change.” The decision by Adidas and Brooks to share this video shows that this issue is far greater than winning in business, and it’s a small example of the unity needed for the right changes to be made.