Nike. Just stop it? (by Sparrow Wong)

Nike is a popular brand among young people around the world. Their products cover most sports we know of, including basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis, yoga, baseball, and even hiking. Accessory products of each sport include sportswear, shoes, wristbands, rackets, goggles and bags. It was the reason why Nike is positioned as a premium performance brand. Nike’s products are sold in more than 20,000 retailers in America and in over 100 countries in the world. Nike sells its products in international markets through independent distributors, licensees and subsidiaries.

This history of Nike dates back to 1972. it was founded by two athletes in the University of Oregon. It started off selling shoes bearing the well-known “swoosh” design. Its profits grew quickly. It became the dominating sport brands world-wide when Michael Jordan said in a commercial advertising campaign “Just do it.” in 1988. The slogan represented the courage and practical attitude of the Americans. It continued to expand its border by integrating with other sports brands in the early 90’s. Nike has more than 500 locations around the world and offices located in 45 countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located in Asia, including China, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Korea.Most of these factories are located in less developed countries.

 The way Nike promotes and sells its products is a kind of globalization. Globalization, according to British journalism scholar Kevin Robbins, is the dissolution of the distance, boundaries and distinctions between nations, culture and societies resulting in one single entity known as the global village. This process is facilitated by the rapid advance in technology and the World Wide Web has facilitated the flow of information.

What does globalization bring? Intercultural communication and exchanges are made possible. Their developments become diversified. People of different races and circles are brought together into one single community. By just a few clicks on the internet we can get to learn about the culture of other nations without going there in person.

However, we should also be aware of the problems brought about by globalization. According to John Hartley, it is thought that in the global village, dominant cultures would exercise leadership. They would maintain power over the economic, political and cultural direction of other nations. But this is not as discrete as direct coercion of subordinate classes.

Exploitation of the weaker nations is another issue often mentioned by skeptics toward globalization. For example, most of Nike’s productions lines run in the less developed countries including India, Vietnam and China. The laborers employed by Nike in these countries are being paid at incredibly low rates – $1.60 per hour in terms of Hong Kong dollars. Moreover, they enjoy no employees’ welfare at all. Think about a pair of Nike basketball shoes that is being marketed at a price of about $800. The cost of production is well below $100. Nike, being one of the dominating entities in the global village, successfully minimizes the costs of production, but at the expense of the people of the subordinate cultures.

 In the future, as you are about to buy a pair of Nike shoes, think about the issue of globalization that hides behind it. It is not as simple as buying a pair of shoes for your own comfort.

References:

1)迷失喪拼場

2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike%2C_Inc.