Nike Sweatshop Correspondence

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This is actually true. See:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/weekly/aa022101a.htm

http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blnike.htm

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Nike has offered personalized running shoes whereby a customer can have
his/her own messsage put on the shoe — someone decided to test this
new customer service as can be seen in the following messages. The
personalized message requested was “SWEATSHOP.”

From: “Personalize, NIKE iD”
To: “‘Jonah H. Peretti’”
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.

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”
To: “Personalize, NIKE iD”
ubject: 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”
o: “‘Jonah H. Peretti’”
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 www.nike.com

Thank you,
NIKE iD

————

From: “Jonah H. Peretti”
To: “Personalize, NIKE iD”
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”
To: “‘Jonah H. Peretti’”
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 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’”
To: “Personalize, NIKE iD”
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}