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First of all, my intention of this thread isn’t to say don’t buy Nike or say they are a completely corrupt company (which may be the case) but I haven’t done the research to make such an accusation. I am writing this while wearing my Nike Dunks, which were made in China, and have skied at the Nike 6.0 terrain park at Mount Seymour on many occasions and appreciate the fact that they have donated such features, however, it was conveniently during the year of the Olympics.
The issue I am addressing is the emergence of Nike 6.0 in freeskiing. In a Sports Ethics class today, we went over the roll of Nike and their sweatshops in Indonesia. We watch the documentary Behind the Swoosh by Team Sweat, http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=119275175157
This documentary addressed the fact that Nike’s workers in Indonesia make $1.25 a day, which can barely cover the cost of living in 3rd world living conditions. Pointing out that their sole reason in Indonesia was for profit.
Now I’m not going to go to in-depth about the movie, but my question is, do we as freeskiers want a company such as Nike 6.0 representing us as athletes in our sport? I realize we live in a capitalist world, but I have trouble seeing we should choose to be represented by such a company. Like I said, I have bough Nike on several occasions, and this is just an idea that I have had in the last 30minutes. But maybe as a sport we could effectively not support Nike 6.0.
Another issue I’ve had with Nike 6.0 being involved with freeskiing is did they give two shits about it before it blew up? They were never involved before it became profitable, I realize they do sponsors major events and athletes such as Sammy Carlson, but that has only been recently. Companies like Orage have been providing the same service for much longer, and are made by skiers for skiers. I just feel like Nike is throwing cash in the sport simply for direct profit and not for the long-term development of the sport.
Again, I’m not saying go out and burn your kicks, but like maybe we should question the ethics of the companies, which are running our sport. We as the athletes and the consumers of freeskiing can directly effect the impact they have on our sport.
Also, I’d be interested to know does Nike 6.0 have the same management as the general Nike? Where is their products produce?
I
am interested in hearing your thoughts
