Nike’s New “Michael Vick” FLIP FLOP!

(NOTE: This post was originally published yesterday under the title “Corporate Responsibility – Subway’s Willing Failure” however, based on events that have just developed, I felt it imperative to update the post with the new information about Nike’s re-signing of Michael Vick, because in my opinion this is a MUCH bigger issue than Subway. CD)

I remember when I first saw Michael Vick play football, it was the 2000 Sugar Bowl against Florida State. I remember this game vividly because I have been a lifelong Seminole, and while the Noles handily beat Virginia Tech 46 to 29 and won the National Championship, I remembered being awed by the young Hokie who played as if he had some protective force field around him. He truly looked untouchable on the field.

Unfortunately, that same Teflon protection seems to have carried forward to the present day and still insulates Michael Vick from the atrocities of his past. Vick supporters and sports fans alike seem to either overlook his heinous actions or they simply don’t understand exactly what horrors he committed. I would like to believe it is the latter because for a long time, I didn’t really get it either. Not until December 28, 2010. It was on this day that news of President Obama’s phone call to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, in which he applauded Lurie for giving Vick a second chance, blanketed the airwaves. I could not get away from this story.

As one who has always been interested in politics and political maneuvering I decided to dig in a little bit and see what all of the hubbub was about. I wanted to know what Vick did, what his involvement was and why the President was lauding his meteoric comeback.

Almost immediately into my research, my eyes were opened and I was sick to my stomach. Reading the Federal Court documents I was appalled. I have had dogs throughout most of my life and the thought of doing what this man and his associates did to those innocent animals presented a new level of evil in my mind.

(For more detail on the true actions of Vick and Co. please see “Michael Vick Was WRONGLY CONVICTED!”)

Fast forward to 2011. Vick has severed out his meager sentence of 18 of 23 months (NOTE: If Vick had truly been tried and convicted on the potential 29 counts of animal cruelty and dog fighting he could have faced up to SIXTY-FIVE years in prison) and is back in the NFL playing his beloved game and was awarded a “franchise tag” by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011 meaning that his salary must equate to the top five salaries for his position.

• In 2010 the Eagles paid Vick approximately $5.25 million
• Projected Salary (after the franchise tag) for 2011 – $16 million

But the rewards don’t stop there. In January of 2011 the NFL booked the 4,200 square foot Presidential penthouse for Vick at (apparently Mr. Obama wasn’t in town for the game or maybe he just deferred to Mike) the Marriott’s Ihilani Resort during last year’s Pro Bowl. Why was Vick selected for this honor over any other player? Security? Laughable.

Again in January of 2011 – Unequal Technologies signs Vick to a “Sizeable” contract according to company CEO Rob Vito. Mr. Vito, do you really know what this man did? Again, I sincerely hope not, but you should. If you are going to spend a “sizeable” amount of money on someone, you better know what you are buying. And if you do know, then your value system is non-existent.

On April 26, 2011, EA Sports who produces the insanely popular Madden NFL series for Playstation and Xbox dodged bullet when Vick was ousted by Peyton Hillis as their 2012 Cover Star. Had Vick been placed on the cover EA would have had a potential firestorm on their hands. One of their commercials in 2011 showed a father and son placing the family dog on a tread mill before returning to their video game. Who was the mastermind who came up with this ad campaign? Certainly they were not aware that their 2004 poster boy, Michael Vick used tread mills in the same fashion to strengthen his fighting dogs. Or were they?

This past Sunday, Subway sponsored the BET (BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION) Award for “Sportsman of the Year”. I am sure by now you already know who won that coveted award. I will not even get into BET as their mission is as flawed as their judgment. I mean Chris Brown, who threw a vicious beating on BET’s Female R&B Entertainer of the Year, Rhianna in 2009, won four awards – I’m sure she felt good about that. But Subway on the other hand is a large, multi-national corporation with a responsibility not only to its franchisees, but to its employees and its customers worldwide. It has been told to me that the sponsors do not know who the winners will be prior to the announcement in such situations. Well, I am sorry, but knowing that Michael Vick is one of five men up for the award should have sent even a minor tinge of weariness. But no, Subway moved forward. Michael Vick won their award. And now the two, like it or not, are joined. Guilt by association if you will.

Subway still chooses to overlook this. They, to this day, have been negligent in responding to calls, questions, letters and complaints. As such, boycotts and protests have sprung up all over the nation. I have heard from people all over the country staging rallies at local Subway stores with their dogs, telling every customer that walks by just what this company stands for, or rather what it doesn’t stand for. There is even a Facebook page, NO WAY Subway that after popping up on Monday has grown to over 18,000 fans in 4 short days.

UPDATE: As of this writing, Nike has just signed Michael Vick to a new contract. UNBELIEVABLE. Here is a company that dumped him in 2007 stating that “cruelty to animals was ‘inhumane, abhorrent and unacceptable.’” I wonder what has changed? I can only assume that the answer can be found in the shallow, columns of the financial ledger which apparently has no conscience. I have been a Nike customer for as long as I can remember, to the degree that I don’t ever remember owning another brand of tennis shoes, cleats, or other sports apparel if Nike had something in that line. I can tell you that that has immediately changed. Nike’s fiscal decision to re-sign Vick based on athletic prowess and a total dismissal of his character is the most blatant disregard of corporate values that I have had the misfortune to witness. This is a company who plays a HUGE part in the lives of our children. Just think how many kids wear Nike sports apparel. How many children want to emulate their sports heroes. Nike has just slapped us all in the face, saying “If your child wants to emulate a sadistic, torturer and murder of dogs, we’ve got your apparel.” Absolutely the wrong message and plainly DISGUSTING!

I am sure there will be a “Boycott Nike” fan page up soon. I will update you when this occurs.

My point in all of this is that we have become a morally bankrupt nation. We value celebrity in all of its many forms more than honesty and integrity. We idolize sports figures like modern day deities. We overlook their faults and their crimes and allow them but a little slap on the wrist before letting them continue on their merry way.

Subway bosses Rob DeLuca and Peter Buck should be ashamed of themselves for allowing their brand to be affiliated with a man like Michael Vick. I have had people tell me that by boycotting the local stores you will only hurt the franchisees. That may well be the case. But that is not my concern – Subway is Subway. And while the individual franchisees may not have been a part of the Vick / BET sponsorship deal, they are a part of the Subway system. If DeLuca and Buck choose not to hear our voices, perhaps with enough pain they will hear the voices of their owners.

It is high time for corporate America to take responsibility for their actions and answer to their customers. I expect a company like Subway to put as much forethought into who they partner with as they certainly must have with their new avocado thing – whatever that is.

I urge you all to keep up the fight. Tell Nike, Subway and others like them that our voices do matter and that we will not abide companies and corporations who have no moral compass, that we will not allow our children to be influenced by corporate greed, that we will support businesses who have at their core- values, ethics, social responsibility, and integrity.

“While one voice may often get lost against the din of resistance, thousands in unison can be deafening.”

Chris Durant

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