After one year of release, the "Dream Crazy" campaign by Nike featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial. This is the first time in 17 years that Nike has won this award. The last time Nike won the Emmy Outstanding Commercial award was in 2002 for a campaign titled "Move".
The “Dream Crazy” campaign was made to celebrate Nike's 30th anniversary of the slogan "Just do it." The ad was narrated by Colin Kaepernick and encouraged people to dream big and not to settle for less in their lives. It also features superstar athletes like LeBron James, Serena Williams and others addressing issues such as gender, disabilities, racism and obesity.
Nike's use of Colin Kaepernick as narrator for "Dream Crazy" caused a lot of controversy. The commercial came two years after Colin Kaepernick first took a knee for the national anthem during a National Football League preseason game in 2016 to protest racial injustice. Following the release of the campaign, people burnt their Nike shoes, Nike's share price plummeted, #BoycottNike was trending on Twitter and President Trump was noted for his harsh tweet against Nike. However, days following the release of the ad online sales for Nike went up swiftly.
