Nike summarizes its mission for corporate responsibility in two ways; the first is that they must help the company achieve profitable and sustainable growth and second, they must protect and enhance the brand and the company. Creativity and innovation has always been the key to Nike's success and dominance of the market, however they have often been criticized for using sweatshop labor in countries like Indonesia and Mexico. They have been subjected to critical coverage of the sometimes poor working conditions in the factories that manufacture their products. Sources of some of these criticisms are Naomi Klein's book No Logo and Michael Moore's documentaries. Nike, however, was rated at 100% in 2002, 2003, and 2004 by the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender political organization. Other criticisms include the false advertising lawsuit filed by Marc Kasky in which Nike claimed it was immune on the basis of First Amendment right to free speech. The California Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 4-3 that corporations can be held accountable for false advertising and misleading statements. Nike also received much criticism for its unauthorized use of the Beatles song "Revolution" and their 2005 use of a slightly modified, but still plagiarized album cover from the independent band, Minor Threat. This promotional tool was intended for their line of skateboarding shoes, and after some controversy, the Nike Skateboarding website did issue and apology to Dischord Records, Minor Threat, and the general public and claimed that all uses would be removed. It not only Nike's emphasis on creative often controversial marketing such as the cases above that has turned them into a household name, but the endorsements of athletes like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and Steve Personating in the early years. Smart marketing and strict control of supplies also keep Nike profitable and make it the preferred brand for young people and larger than life NBA players alike.
Nike, in Greek mythology, was 'victory' and personified as a goddess. Nike was the daughter of Pallas (playmate of Athena and adopted daughter of sea god Triton/Tritonis) and Styx (the goddess of the River Styx in Hades) and the sister of Cratos, Bia, and Zelus. Nike and her siblings were all companions of Zeus.
Project Nike was a U.S. army project to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. Leftover traces of the approximately 300 Nike missile bases can still be seen around cities across the country, including the top of San Vicente Peak in the middle of Los Angeles. This site has been turned into a Cold War memorial park, however other traces of the project can be found the Palos Verdes Peninsula and in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The Nike Award is a Polish language literature prize.
Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of Nike's factory workers in Malaysia combined. (Rumor)
60,000 Nike shoes spilled from a storm-tossed cargo ship in the northeastern Pacific in May 1990. The shoes washed ashore one at a time from 1991 to 1994 but were still wearable after a scrub to remove barnacles, algae, and tar. Beachcombers held swap meets to find matched pairs. (Fact. Provided by the Smithsonian Institution)
Nike Air Force One, Nike Air Jordan, Nike Shox, Nike Air Zoom, Nike Air Max, Nike Air Raid, Nike Air Huarache, Nike Dunk High and Dunk Low, Nike Terminator, Nike Waffle Racer, Nike Vandal, and Nike Cortez.
