Cob: Just DO it!
cw
caoimhin at indigo.ie
Wed Feb 28 03:39:27 CST 2001
If I may
Ok this is nothing to do with building but it is interesting and part of the
wider problem.
This is correspondance between Nike and someone who objects to Nike's use of
sweatshops to produce it's products. He wished to avail of Nike's offer to
stitch a name onto his shoes. He wanted Nike to stitch SWEATSHOP onto his.
The correspondance goes as follows:
This is brilliant....
----- This is from Philip Quinlan -----
From: Philip Quinlan philipq at connect.ie
Sent: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 21:34:12 +0000
To: barney at lib-lab.com
CC: markos at indigo.ie, lights at indigo.ie
Subject: Fwd: Just DO it!
---------- Got this from Ivan Lamont ----------
Subject: Just DO it!
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 08:37:30 -0800 (PST)
From: Ivan Lamont <address_removed_by_administrator>
Nike now lets you personalize your shoes by submitting a
word or phrase which they will stitch onto your shoes,
under the swoosh. So Jonah Peretti filled out the form and
sent them $50 to stitch"sweatshop" onto his shoes.
Here's the responses he got... fun and games with Nike...
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti at media.mit.edu>
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Your NIKE iD order was cancelled for one or more of the
following
reasons:
1) Your Personal iD contains another party's trademark or
other intellectual property
2) Your Personal iD contains the name of an athlete or team
we do not have the legal right to use
3) Your Personal iD was left blank. Did you not want any
personalization?
4) Your Personal iD contains profanity or inappropriate
slang, and besides, your mother would slap us.
If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a new
personalization please visit us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti at media.mit.edu>
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Greetings,
My order was canceled but my personal NIKE iD does not
violate any of the criteria outlined in your message. The
Personal iD on my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes was the
word "sweatshop."
Sweatshop is not:
1) another's party's trademark,
2) the name of an athlete,
3) blank, or
4) profanity.
I choose the iD because I wanted to remember the toil and
labor of the children that made my shoes. Could you please
ship them to me immediately.
Thanks and Happy New Year, Jonah Peretti
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti at media.mit.edu>
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD Customer,
Your NIKE iD order was cancelled because the iD you have
chosen contains, as stated in the previous e-mail
correspondence,"inappropriate slang". If you wish to
reorder your NIKE iD product with a new personalization
please visit us again at nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti at media.mit.edu>
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD,
Thank you for your quick response to my inquiry about my
custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes. Although I commend you
for your prompt customer service, I disagree with the claim
that my personal iD was inappropriate slang. After
consulting Webster's Dictionary, I discovered
that "sweatshop" is in fact part of standard
English, and not slang. The word means: "a shop or factory
in which workers are employed for long hours at low wages
and under unhealthy conditions" and its origin dates from
1892. So my personal iD does meet the criteria detailed
in your first email.
Your web site advertises that the NIKE iD program is "about
freedom to choose and freedom to express who you are." I
share Nike's love of freedom and personal expression. The
site also says that "If you want it done right...build it
yourself." I was thrilled to be able to build my own
shoes, and my personal iD was offered as a
small token of appreciation for the sweatshop workers
poised to help me realize my vision. I hope that you will
value my freedom of expression and reconsider your decision
to reject my order.
Thank you, Jonah Peretti
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti at media.mit.edu>
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD Customer,
Regarding the rules for personalization it also states on
the NIKE iD web site that "Nike reserves the right to
cancel any personal iD up to 24 hours after it has been
submitted". In addition, it further
explains: "While we honor most personal iDs, we cannot
honor every one. Some may be (or contain) other's
trademarks, or the names of certain professional sports
teams, athletes or celebrities that Nike does not have the
right to use. Others may contain material that we consider
inappropriate or simply do not want to
place on our products. Unfortunately, at times this obliges
us to decline personal iDs that may otherwise seem
unobjectionable. In any event, we will let you know if we
decline your personal iD, and we will offer you the chance
to submit another."
With these rules in mind, we cannot accept your order as
submitted. If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product
with a new personalization please visit us again at
www.nike.com Thank you, NIKE iD
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti at media.mit.edu>
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD,
Thank you for the time and energy you have spent on my
request. I have decided to order the shoes with a
different iD, but I would like to make one small request.
Could you please send me a color snapshot of the ten-year-
old Vietnamese girl who makes my shoes?
Thanks,
Jonah Peretti
<no response>
As one forwarder writes:
... this will now go round the world much farther and
faster than any of the adverts they paid Michael Jordan
more than the entire wage packet of all their sweatshop
workers in the world to do...
I normally avoid making a plea to pass on these things, but
this time I say:
JUST DO IT
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