Marketing the sacrifice

A roiled audience overwhelms the gates

Abstract

In analyzing 90,000 tweets associated with Nike’s selection of controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick for its 2018 marketing campaign, this study found the audience largely diverged from the company’s primary message. By deploying the emerging theory of the “drowning effect” as a subcategory of overall gatekeeping, researchers found the audience used five rhetorical tactics to discuss seven primary themes.