Andrea Rosebrock 
UPDATE 10/1/09 – Nike Issues Statement Denying Signing Vick!
After losing a reported $1.5 million when they dumped Michael Vick after he pleaded guilty to his connection to his dogfighting ring in 2007, it’s been reported today that Nike signed an endorsement deal with Michael Vick… again by several news sources.
“Mike has had a great relationship with Nike and is excited to be part of the Nike team again,” Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, told Sports Business Journal.
The managing director of the agency that represents Vick announced the deal Wednesday while participating on a panel at the Sports Sponsorship Symposium.
After cutting ties in 2007, Nike said that they consider “any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent,” and supposed dumped about 30,000 pair of Vick V shoes and dropped the line before distribution.
“Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent,” Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said in a statement in 2007.
Guess they don’t see a problem with signing on a dog killer, convicted felon after he gets out of prison, is picked up by a NFL team and practically backed by the HSUS. Guess cruelty to animals isn’t quite so “inhumane and abhorrent” when compared to the bucks they figure Vick’s endorsement can bring in.
Maybe they didn’t dump the shoes, just warehoused them, waiting… and now they see a way to recoup their losses. So much for any integrity, not that we actually expected any from corporations whose only concern is the bottom line, the almighty buck!
Looks like yet another company that I know I will be boycotting. Will be contacting them then searching the house for any Nike gear and tossing it, after giving it to Jezzie and Bruti for chew toys… LOL
Nike World Headquarters
One Bowerman Drive
Beaverton, OR 97005
1-503-671-6453
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday (except Holidays)
Email them via their contact page HERE
or
1-800-344-6453, opt. 9
http://store.nike.com/help/us/#/contact-us
And you know what so many impressionable kids are going to see? Sure, he was into dogfighting, can’t be that bad, he making millions, back into pro football, getting endorsements. Oh yeah, helluva lesson!
Fox Sports which is carrying the story also has a poll asking what people think about the endorsement deal… as I write this it’s an overwhelming 66+% for “Why not? He’s paid his debt to society.” We need to vote and show our support for “Outraged!!” HERE
Note: have heard from a couple of people who called Nike that at this point Nike reps are denying this. Guess we shall see. Still think we need to contact them and let them know what we think.
Nike has issued a statement that they DID NOT sign an endorsement deal with Michael Vick. They are supplying him with some free products like they do with numerous other pro players.
“Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick. We have agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike,” the company said in a statement.
If the agent’s objective was to rehabilitate Vick’s image, the attempt backfired, says marketing consultant Ernest Lupianacci, a former creative director for Nike advertising.
“This agent put his Air Vick in his mouth,” Lupinacci says. (USA Today)
This is good news to hear confirmed but there’s still a ton of reasons to stay away from Nike…. giving him free stuff is still an endorsement of sorts in my mind. Who’s to say they’re not testing the waters forthe future either? Can’t say I trust them to be quite honest with you.
I give up . I will never buy a pair again . As I said D , we are a minority .It will be forgotten in a few months. You cannot fight unless you have a chance to win , and we do not !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Terry, I refuse to give up and will continue to fight and I know there are many, many people who will also do the same. I doubt I'd admit defeat with my dying breath. A long as there is a tomorrow, there is hope. We may lose this battle or that one but I see us winning a lot of skirmishes too.
Y'know Terry, I am actually rather new to animal advocacy. Have only been doing this blog for a bit over 2 1/2 years and to be honest, when I started, I had no idea what I was going to do or what direction to head. The direction sort of chose itself and I am passionate about my feeling and beliefs. Some days I do feel defeated, so I take a little break, cuddle with my babies, rant with friends and come back tomorrow. I think we are a growing army. More and more people every day are being educated and becoming more aware.
Never give up the fight Terry!!
D.
If Nike can make money , they will , they saw the protest level was way down so they acted on it .This is American Greed at it's best .He is now getting everything back and all the people saying " it was only dogs" are laughing at us .This could have been so important for dog fighting and animal cruelty , but was just completely ignored . Now what ?
I just read this news 10 mins ago and I am so disgusted I don't even know what to say. Vick is the lowest form of pond scum. I will NEVER buy another Nike product again. The ol' mighty dollar won out again over humanity. What does this tell others???? Its ok to abuse animals thats what it says…uisfgeyut3&^&^&^%%$@#@* arrrghhhhh I am so angry!!! I am emailing Nike right now.
Apparently Nike's board of directors doesn't consider it quite as cruel and inhumane if there's enough money to be made.
I, for one, will never buy another Nike product as long as Vick is on board.
I'll make good and sure not to buy any thing nike nor from the other companies that has to do with Nike…. this guy should still be in jail and PETA should have fought to keep him there.. now he's out and making money hand over fist once again shame on Amrican people that follows this scum …
Today, Nike is now denying the endorsement.
How disgusting. Why would any company want a dog killer to represent them? Nike obviously doesn't care about animals, they just care about the $$$. Vick is a POS, and I hope he gets hurt on the field.
Nike's denial makes me wonder if it was a trial balloon to see how consumers would react. I hope everyone who is appalled by Vick will still contact Nike so they know it is not acceptable to present a sadist as a role model
I am sorry that the Eagles' sponsors and most fans appear to be standing behind the team but I would be far sorrier if we gave up the fight no matter what the odds.
I really blame Wayne Pacella for giving Vick the cover to present himself as a remorseful man who's seen the light. Between the HSUS, the race card that keeps being played and the "just a dog" people, our best hope is Vick himself. He's not a very good QB, he's not very smart as this EPSN investigation points out and when the pressure is on, he will make another "mistake", hopefully nobody will die as a a result.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=41789…
I too blame Wayne Pacelle of the HSUS. Vick hasn't seen the light and isn't sorry. He's sorry he got caught and the HSUS should never have aligned with him.
If this Nike deal is in fact real it is an outrage. I emailed them anyway expressing my disgust, just in case. Either way I'm dumping all my Nike products. I won't miss my sneakers just like I won't miss Dunkin Donuts coffee or Pepsi products.
We can not give up the fight even if it seems hopeless. Fighting for what is right is never easy. If it was, everyone would be doing it.
And thanks again to the HSUS for making this all possible! If they had never brought him on board, I doubt that things would be going so well for him. But the attitudes are, if the HSUS can trust him, why can't we?? I'm sickened and disgusted. Like you D, I will NEVER GIVE UP THE FIGHT about this. I will express my outrage to my dying day. We owe that much to the precious dogs whose lives were lost or shattered by this monster. This lesson to the children is what's the worst. The HSUS, especially Wayne Pacelle should hang their heads in shame for opening these doors for this heartless murderer. I'm sure Michael Vick is laughing all the way to the bank, never once feeling a single twinge of guilt or remorse for what he did to those dogs. We live in a sick society that elevates criminals and monsters into celebrity status and pay them millions to do it, while those who are working tirelessly for the animals are scoffed at, ridiculed and reviled by those like Vick. This is digusting, and I will boycott Nike and make sure everyone I know does the same thing.
See Update above – Nike Has Issued a Statement Denying Signing Vick to an Endorsement Deal!
Thank God , I am happy again -Die Vick Die .It ruined my day at work
When I read this early this morning I was mad, and had to close it because I am so tired of all these money grubbing fools.
Wonder if there really was something in negotioations, but the public outcry put a kabash on it…I would like to think that is the truth….
This is the response that I received from Nike:
Response (Jeff) – 10/01/2009 09:26 AM
Thank you for your email. Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick. We have agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Sincerely,
Nike
Got the exact same response, what a crock, why would you supply anything to Vick who cost your company millions?
I am going to continue to message Nike and send another round of letters to the Eagles sponsors.
I just saw Tastykake's new packaging for its Butterscotch Krimpets, with the Eagles' logo and the words "proud partner of the Philadelphia Eagles!" They have NOTHING to be proud about
This is my reply to their reply:
While Nike may not have a contract with Michael Vick it appears that your firm has no problem conducting business with a man who was responsible for the torture and murder of dogs. The lack of a contract on your part does not provide an excuse from your firm making a poor choice in business associates.
Hi,
I'm Kori's mother and was very proud of her standing up for what is the right thing. She should be able to voice her opinion. There is no dress code at the stadium. We can't possibly understand how anyone could stand behind Vick. He is a dog murderer!! The media has been contacting her and she was on ESPN radio yesterday. He doesn't deserve a second chance. The dogs that he tortured never got a second chance!! Thanks for all the great support!!
Joan, THANK YOU for raising a wonderful daughter, and for your beliefs in this matter. Awsome that the media is contacting her about this. This will let everyone who supports this monster, really know what this is all about. You are right, he is a murderer.
Dear Joan, My congratulations on raising a daughter with the courage of her convictions who's helping to keep this story alive, I hope the media presses the Eagles on their newly discovered dress code which I cannot imagine is legal
I can't believe Nike would be so stupid. They would have to realize what a bad move it would be. Mothers are not going to dress their children in Nike clothes or wear them themselves. I agree with Nancy (10:58 reply) about "role model" and I won't wear or buy Nike until I find out they dumped him and quit giving him products to advertise. My dog before Minnie was a red nosed female pit bull named Honey. She never had her tail docked or her ears cropped, she didn't even know she was a dog. She wasn't even a problem with other dogs and was afraid of cats since one scratched her when she was young. We had her for 12 years and I miss her very much. She was never a problem. So sweet and so good. It's people like Michale Vick that give these wonderful dogs a bad name. He's a scum-bag.
I guess that seems like somewhat like great news that they didn’t actually sign him because I don’t think a lot of people would be wanting to buy his footwear or anything like that, at least I wouldn’t want to.
“any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent,”…
really? did they stop using Kangaroo skin for their shoes? maybe they never heard the horrors surrounding the slaughter of Roos and their babes.
A Huge Thank You to Joan, also, for raising such a fabulous daughter, she is a blessing to the world!
NIKE chew toys….hahaha I say screw them all….anyone who is patting that SOB on the back……
I belong to Change.org. They had this at the website when I checked today:
http://www.change.org/actions/view/boycotting_nik…
I would urge everyone to sign the petition and send the letters as well as complete the feedback for the Nike company. I found it very interesting that all of my emails are coming back as failed delivery. The 4 contacts listed must have been inundated with emails and have shut down their emails for now. That proves the message is getting through! Let's help them get the 500 signatures so this will be personally delivered and Nike gets the message that the public will not stand for them even giving this monster their clothes and shoes or ANYTHING at all.