​Mayor Bans Nike Logo At Louisiana City Recreation Facilities

KENNER, LA — The mayor of a city near New Orleans has blocked the purchase of Nike products for use in the city’s recreation program after the athletic apparel company featured Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who started the “take a knee” movement, in its “Just Do It” campaign. The memo signed by Kenner Mayor E. Ben Zahn III and circulated on Twitter said that “under no circumstances” would the brand’s logo be allowed in any of the city’s facilities.

With its decision to feature Kaepernick in its 30th anniversary celebration of the slogan, Nike jumped into the controversy surrounding the out-of-work NFL player, who in 2016 became the first of several in the league to kneel during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. The protest has since been widely misinterpreted as disrespectful to the American flag and the military, and some Nike customers have burned their shoes, ripped the iconic checkmark from apparel and called for a boycott of the brand.

Zahn did not immediately respond to Patch’s request for comment. We’ll update this story if we hear back. His Sept. 5 memo, which doesn’t appear to have been intentionally circulated, said:

“Effective immediately all purchases made by any booster club operating at any Kenner Recreation Facility for wearing apparel, shoes, athletic equipment and/or any athletic product must be approved by the Director of Parks and Recreation, or his designee. Under no circumstances will any Nike product or any product with the Nike logo be purchased for use or delivery at any City of Kenner Recreation Facility.”

Kenner City Councilman Gregory Carroll said on Facebook that he wasn’t made aware of the decision that prompted Zahn’s memo and called the decision “in direct contradiction of what I stand for and what the City of Kenner should stand for.”

He said he is “100 percent” against the decision and will work to rescind it.

Carroll, who lost to Zahn in a runoff election for Kenner mayor in 2016, said he is “100 percent” against the decision and will work to rescind it. The mayor should have consulted other elected officials before implementing the Nike ban, he told The Advocate.

“We look different, we represent people who are different, we’re in different parties, so ... my ears are going to hear it differently from the rest of my peers on the council who have some different opinion,” he said.

Owen Rey, the booster club president for Kenner’s Susan Park Playground, told television station WWL the brand shouldn't matter.

“If we have something that we feel that we want, that’s going to benefit our kids, it shouldn’t matter what logo, what brand, as long as it helps the kids, and what we’re trying to accomplish at the park,” Rey said.

Criticism of the ban was swift on social media.

Bernice A. King, the CEO of the The King Center honoring the legacy of her father, slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., tweeted: “Imagine if the City of Kenner, Louisiana banned systemic racism, overt racism and police brutality. Because these are the issues most who are demonizing @Kaepernick7 and vilifying @Nike aren’t even willing to focus on.”

Donna Brazile, an author and political strategist whose hometown is Kenner, tweeted a photo of the memo and said: “Disappointed in my beloved City of Kenner.”

A Twitter user identified as “Sparrow Elle” said in response to Brazile’s post: “People there need to demand the mayor explain himself. What about supporting someone protesting the killing of unarmed people makes Nike unacceptable to this mayor? And don't anybody buy the ‘it's against the troops’ BS because a veteran suggested the kneeling in the first place.”

Some people applauded the mayor and derided Kaepernick.

“Nike read and weep!” wrote Virginia K. Bordelon, the mother of three sons in the military who wrote that she hopes “one million other companies and sports leagues follow!”

“Way to Mr. Mayor of Kenner! The REAL SACRIFICE is our soldiers on the battlefield ... so hang your hat on that Kap, you are too old and out of touch of the real skills of an NFL quarterback. I am ashamed of Nike for picking up such a low quality marketing campaign! I’m ashamed to say that I owe some Nike products but I do own a Black Sharpie that I can blacken out the Nike name on every piece of Nike product that I own. Who is with me?”

She added: “Anyone that does not have the respect to stand up and respect the flag for the guys that protect our freedom, don’t deserve the chance to play a sport they love or earn money for their cause. Let that sink in!”

Despite the controversy surrounding the Nike “Just Do It” campaign, the company still saw a 31 percent increase in sales from Sunday through Tuesday over the Labor Day holiday. Nike announced on Sept. 4 that Kaepernick would be among the faces of the campaign.

Zahn addressed the National Anthem controversy last week when he introduced a soloist who would sing “The Star Spangled Banner” at a community celebration, The Advocate reported.

“She's going to come out and do our national anthem because this is not the NFL football players, right?” he said. “This is the city of Kenner. In the city of Kenner we all stand.”

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)