Boycott Nike 6.0

[sjb1983]

I just saw this (frankly awful) video on magicseaweed - http://magicseaweed.com/Nike-6.0-Open-H ... tent/2566/ - and thought I'd say what I think about Nike - they are money-grabbing sports industry heavyweights who are jumping on the surfing bandwagon.

They have all of a sudden decided surfing is a 'lucrative' market for them and are snapping up many promising junior surfers. They obviously plan to have the best surfers in the world on their roster in the future. This is their entry method and it seems to be working, much to my dismay. The kids they are snapping up are oblivious to the fact that Nike are notorious for sweatshop labour in Asia, making thousands of people slave away under inhumane conditions to pump out their latest over-priced product.

The fact that they do little for the environment and have not previously been involved in the surf industry should make people instantly weary. My personal advice to anyone who surfs out there, BOYCOTT NIKE 6.0 and do not let this monstruous company get a stranglehold on our beloved sport! I am not saying that Rip Curl, Billabong or Quiksilver are any better but at least they have their roots in surfing. NIke, on the the other hand, is only out to make some fast cash.

Steve
http://www.livebali.blogspot.com

[Cheese Monkey]

Yeah I watched that a while ago and nearly threw up. One minute of surfing, rest a load of shit, all I got from it was that he has some ridiculous house with more shoes in than can be considered normal for a straight bloke

[DrJive]

I voted the last one.

I won't be rushing out to buy any of their stuff in a desperate rush but I fail to see how they are much different to any of the existing major surf brands? There are now a few WCT surfers currently competing with no sponsors so from their perspective I bet they don't mind more companies supporting pro surfing

Do you get just as angry when you see obvious non - surfers wearing clothing from the major surf brands?

The video is total wank, of that I wholeheartedly agree

[WeAreMemories]

If Nike made a surfing wetsuit, all black with the white tick on the chest, I would be all over it

[Matt Rose]

http://www.bbcactive.com/BroadCastLearn ... code=21250

[lostboy]

Couldn't give a flying fuck whether it's Nike, NASA, or Tesco's entering the market. Buy their stuff, don't buy it...

[roberdy]

Couldn't give a flying fuck whether it's Nike, NASA, or Tesco's entering the market. Buy their stuff, don't buy it...

Lol @ Tesco's value wetties, blue and white stripes ftw

[TVB III.]

Everybody´s got to draw their own conclusions wether they buy stuff or not and of which brand. So just make a statement when you go to the stores. Maybe everybody should think twice anyway if he/she really needs the new cap/shirt/shoes/whatever and expand the concept to consumption in general.
What pisses me off in this particular case (the annoying video on MSW) is that a mere commercial is run as a feature article and that a major business company can sign up as a regular user and spam the editorial content with crap like this. I don´t like that and find it bewildering that it seems to be alright with the MSW desk.

L.

[danny1]

nike 6.0 have been around for about 4/5 years....bit slow on the up take you lad

[Werwulf1919]

I just saw this (frankly awful) video on magicseaweed - http://magicseaweed.com/Nike-6.0-Open-H ... tent/2566/ - and thought I'd say what I think about Nike - they are money-grabbing sports industry heavyweights who are jumping on the surfing bandwagon.

They have all of a sudden decided surfing is a 'lucrative' market for them and are snapping up many promising junior surfers. They obviously plan to have the best surfers in the world on their roster in the future. This is their entry method and it seems to be working, much to my dismay. The kids they are snapping up are oblivious to the fact that Nike are notorious for sweatshop labour in Asia, making thousands of people slave away under inhumane conditions to pump out their latest over-priced product.

The fact that they do little for the environment and have not previously been involved in the surf industry should make people instantly weary. My personal advice to anyone who surfs out there, BOYCOTT NIKE 6.0 and do not let this monstruous company get a stranglehold on our beloved sport! I am not saying that Rip Curl, Billabong or Quiksilver are any better but at least they have their roots in surfing. NIke, on the the other hand, is only out to make some fast cash.

Steve
http://www.livebali.blogspot.com

Couldnt agree more...they are a fucking horrible company.

[Zac Gibson]

might as well boycott hurley as well then if you are boycotting nike but all the major companies get all their stuff cheap in asia so its not just nike!

[Werwulf1919]

Yeah but some serial killers kill more than others...Hurley is owned by Nike though so your right there...

[sjb1983]

nike 6.0 have been around for about 4/5 years....bit slow on the up take you lad

I've been following their progress for a while but it's just the fact that people seem to be embracing has the brand has left me worried. I'm not one to follow fashion but the fact that so many people don't see through their act is worrying, 'lad'.

Steve
www.livebali.blogspot.com

[sjb1983]

might as well boycott hurley as well then if you are boycotting nike but all the major companies get all their stuff cheap in asia so its not just nike!

Yep - I think it's only really Patagonia who have any ethics. I have come to notice that the whole surf industry is run by idiots and they pump out half-decent products at ridiculous prices. Try my best not to buy any branded stuff from any of the companies but sometimes you can't avoid it. Ah well, still dislike Nike more than the others.

[Jimmo]

You seem like a cock, by the way.

Danny

Btw that fish hasn't snapped yet...

[sk8mk]

I generally like nike, and would buy their clothes/skate shoes if they weren't so overpriced. Like mentioned earlier if there was a choice between Xcel and Nike wetsuit which were both the same price and design/features I would most probably choose the nike one. Although I did find that video pretty cringeworthy like watching a mtv cribs program can't be worse than when a matalan catalogue came through the door and looking at some of the shirts there would be loads with like "SURF" written in big letters then something like "off to the beach," was so bad.

[u4d18]

I find it pretty hard to target one company because all the big players do it. It's slaves by proxy, but we're all in the same boat. Consumers demand lots of goods at cheap prices. The only way to compete is to employ people on the cheap. But 'cheap' is relative as the media just compare with western wages, they don't say that the cost of living in these countries is dirt cheap as well. Anyway, if they weren't working in the factory then they'd be doing something less well paid locally.

In all reality, the big factory owners can't really come in offering wages that are significantly higher than the local going rate because they'd push up inflation because the governement etc would have to raise their wages to match the factories and other local businesses wouldn't be able to get a look in.

Simple example, my in-laws in Malaysia employ an Indonesian maid who works pretty much 7 days a week (ok, the work's not that hard, but it's still 7 days). She's getting paid £100 a month, sounds like a slave huh? That's 500 Ringit Malaysian but a school teacher is getting paid just over a 1000RM in Malaysia. So in reality a cleaner is getting half the pay of a school teacher. That doesn't sounds too unfair. It's just when you convert it to our currency it sounds unfair.

That £100 a month when converted to Rupia is a lot of money and after the maids have done a couple of years they head back to Indon with more money than they could've ever earned locally.

So what to us would initially sound harsh and slave like is actually prety fair for all concerned.

However, I still say slave-by-proxy because we are using the comparative value of our currency to employ millions of people to do the work we don't want to give us the life-style we want to lead and we don't even have to see them. We get big corporations to do it for us.

[Jimmy Slade]

might as well boycott hurley as well then if you are boycotting nike but all the major companies get all their stuff cheap in asia so its not just nike!

Yep - I think it's only really Patagonia who have any ethics. I have come to notice that the whole surf industry is run by idiots and they pump out half-decent products at ridiculous prices. Try my best not to buy any branded stuff from any of the companies but sometimes you can't avoid it. Ah well, still dislike Nike more than the others.

Patagonia 50 quid for a pair of shorts made from waste plastic drinking bottles mmm small profit margin there then ethical to the point of a marketing advantage its a business like any other , Breaking up Limestone to make Neoprene with huge pieces of industrial plant no better ethically than using waste product from Oil mining
I reckon if your a talented surfer struggling to make ends meet and someone comes along offers you a wage and free kit youd be mad not to take it whether its Nike or not.
Most of this envirionmentalism and morality and ethical choices are made by people with more money than sense and as said above are quite often buying stuff for the sake of it rather than needing it where did reduce and reuse dissapear off to but its ok they put their glass bottle out every monday morning so are saving the planet ... all these businesses are as bad as each other, its a bit like importing stock from the other side of the world charging over the odds for it and giving 1 % of that profit back to the planet .... eh duh your still fucking the planet over just paying to do so with a handy marketable logo one percent for the planet my arse
besides no business could be as bad as Nestle if they get into the surfing market then its time to be concerned , hopefully Nike will drive some of the exorbitant prices on kit down

[Jimmo]

What he said ^^.

[sjb1983]

Simple example, my in-laws in Malaysia employ an Indonesian maid who works pretty much 7 days a week (ok, the work's not that hard, but it's still 7 days). She's getting paid £100 a month, sounds like a slave huh? That's 500 Ringit Malaysian but a school teacher is getting paid just over a 1000RM in Malaysia. So in reality a cleaner is getting half the pay of a school teacher. That doesn't sounds too unfair. It's just when you convert it to our currency it sounds unfair.

This may be giving them some more money than they can earn at home but a school teacher only works 5 days a week. So a maid is earning roughly half as much as a teacher for an extra week's work per month, with no time off. Maids may not have qualifications like a teacher, but surely a better way would be to let their maid have time off to study on a course of something similar in order to help her get a better job in the future?

Patagonia 50 quid for a pair of shorts made from waste plastic drinking bottles mmm small profit margin there then ethical to the point of a marketing advantage its a business like any other , Breaking up Limestone to make Neoprene with huge pieces of industrial plant no better ethically than using waste product from Oil mining

Well, if paying Hurley $100 for their boardshorts is any better, then go for it! As far as I know, it's not. Boardshorts, and the surf industry in general, is ridiculously over-priced, I agree on that and it's sad to see.

Another thing, ethics aren't so much based on profit margins as they are on treatment of others around them (take a peek http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics). Patagonia may only be the best of a bad bunch, but they appear to be a damn site better than any others in the industry and, if buying from them means paying a similar price to other less respectable companies for buy a high(er) quality product made in a sound working environment without the use of sweatshops seems, then it seems wholly justified. Again, here's a link to what they are doing to help make companies in their industry more accountable for the many abuses of labourers that go on - https://www.patagonia.com/usa/patagonia.go?assetid=37492 It may not be perfect, but it's a start.

Most of this envirionmentalism and morality and ethical choices are made by people with more money than sense and as said above are quite often buying stuff for the sake of it rather than needing it where did reduce and reuse dissapear off to but its ok they put their glass bottle out every monday morning so are saving the planet

So I can assume you think that all of the content on this site is total & utter bollucks, then? http://www.patagonia.com/web/eu/environmentalism
You may be right, you may be wrong; it's still better to see companies at least showing an interest in environmental issues (even if they are doing relatively little - but that we can't judge) than just being blatantly out to make money and let nothing get in their way of doing so. It seems Nike have a proven track record of being horrible fughers without showing any remorse - > http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Ethics/BECG018.htm

hopefully Nike will drive some of the exorbitant prices on kit down

Exorbitant prices on kit? Have you seen how much an average pair of Nike shoes costs?! Do you think they plan to make 'economical' surf gear for the whole family to enjoy?! They may be a powerhouse and create some competition but I think they will just make their prices to match pre-existing ones and hope to take home a fat slice of the same pie that Gordon Merchant & co. have been dining on for years.

I think Quiksilver, Rip Curl & Billabong are all up to the same for sure, it was more to make a point, especially as Nike 6.0 is, at this very moment, attempting to establish itself in the market - my main point was, as surfers, to attempt to shun them. However, I realise how this may well be a pointless effort but it provoked some thought and comment and that's a start.

Steve

http://www.livebali.blogspot.com

[sjb1983]

Everybody´s got to draw their own conclusions wether they buy stuff or not and of which brand. So just make a statement when you go to the stores. Maybe everybody should think twice anyway if he/she really needs the new cap/shirt/shoes/whatever and expand the concept to consumption in general.
What pisses me off in this particular case (the annoying video on MSW) is that a mere commercial is run as a feature article and that a major business company can sign up as a regular user and spam the editorial content with crap like this. I don´t like that and find it bewildering that it seems to be alright with the MSW desk.

L.

I think you hit the nail on the head there......I understad that most of them are as bad as each other but my particular gripe with Nike is the way they are going about aggressively trying to enter the market (having never previously given a flyng F*** about surfing). But hey, this is the world we live in!

[Chris F]

I don't think I've bought anything by Nike since I was about 18, so kind of hard to boycott them any more than I do already.

And what Patagonia do may be perceived as greenwashing, but at least they seem to be thinking about the environment, and trying to do some good.

[pst]

might as well boycott hurley as well then if you are boycotting nike but all the major companies get all their stuff cheap in asia so its not just nike!

Yep - I think it's only really Patagonia who have any ethics. I have come to notice that the whole surf industry is run by idiots and they pump out half-decent products at ridiculous prices. Try my best not to buy any branded stuff from any of the companies but sometimes you can't avoid it. Ah well, still dislike Nike more than the others.

What he is saying is Hurley is owned by Nike, but you probably knew this seeming as though you have been watching the situation for a while...

[kookie-monster]

by sjb1983

TVB III. wrote:
Everybody´s got to draw their own conclusions wether they buy stuff or not and of which brand. So just make a statement when you go to the stores. Maybe everybody should think twice anyway if he/she really needs the new cap/shirt/shoes/whatever and expand the concept to consumption in general.
What pisses me off in this particular case (the annoying video on MSW) is that a mere commercial is run as a feature article and that a major business company can sign up as a regular user and spam the editorial content with crap like this. I don´t like that and find it bewildering that it seems to be alright with the MSW desk.

L.


I think you hit the nail on the head there......I understad that most of them are as bad as each other but my particular gripe with Nike is the way they are going about aggressively trying to enter the market (having never previously given a flyng F*** about surfing). But hey, this is the world we live in!

So your justification for trying to affect a companies income by staging a boycott is the above?

Royal, you best not build that wooden board or you will have this swivel eyed loon waving a placard outside your workshop for having dared to try something new.

[sjb1983]

So your justification for trying to affect a companies income by staging a boycott is the above?

Royal, you best not build that wooden board or you will have this swivel eyed loon waving a placard outside your workshop for having dared to try something new.

It has nothing to do with 'trying something new' - it is about a reputedly nasty company out to rape & pillage the already shady surf industry as they think they can make a quick buck out of surfing. The boycott was just an idea I doubt very much that people will take heed but it was meant also as a platform for opinions to be shared

Best of luck to your friend with 'that wooden board' as it's diversity which surfing needs more of, not brainless consumer conformity (which is exactly what Nike 6.0 embodies to the fullest)

http://www.livebali.blogspot.com

[jamieb]

Im down with boycotting nike. But I guess we also need to inform ourselves of what the other surf 'brands' are doing. It's clear nike are a business, they are branded cleverly to appear like some kind of cool club or elite sports loving personality but its run and owned by... business people. It didn't start from a couple of surfers who love the ocean and transitioned into making a living out of it. We already know the score. Now there's no way I could even get a free Haribo out of the local corner shop owner for my level of surfing, let alone sponsorship, but as a consumer I vote with my money and I will spend it on patagonia, local shapers and small business every-time.

Nike has tried to improve and I believe makes some semi env-friendly shoes now... BUT, thats their token marketing tool. Regardless of whether Nike continues to exploit small communities and workers or cleans up fully... which they haven't... they STILL need to address all the lives they messed with before that point... which they haven't. Many now live without jobs when Nike, after grinding them for a cheap shoe for years, packs up and leaves a country to cheaper and less vocal pastures in an even more desperate community. That they employ people and sustain them is questionable: they take advantage, a tiny insignificant increase in pay for nike is a huge one for workers in these countries, and simple things we take for granted such as unions do not exist in many of these sweat camps. But it doesn't stop there, canon and other electronics brands whose cameras we use, employ cheap labor in Mexico, expose these poor people to toxins, (mothers, fathers, teens), and give them the a clap on the head with a stick if they so much as ask for compensation. Not to mention the political upheaval, deaths and corporate corruption that set up these weakened states in the first place. Indonesia, (where Nike and other brands are based),was a US and UK backed coup that set up a dictator and overthrew a democratically elected president. Millions died at the hands of UK weapons. And why? Because US and European corporations saw money to be made. Soon after the coup, the largest chiefs of these corporations met the new government and carved up the country including Rockerfeller!

If surfers consider themselves as low impact, as a soul-full possie, then they need to consider where their kit comes from and how it was made. No good karma getting stoked or zen on the ocean when some 17 year old has ground out her life and hands in a shanty set up to make you a wettie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONRc_NrOyyw

http://www.inminds.com/new-rulers-of-the-world.html

[tatosven]

Hippies barat, Diam! Have to go, got a busy schedule checking my BP shares then a foxhunt and on top of all that I have to go and man the Mexican border to stop any illegals coming on in. Left wing liberals, not my cup of kopi.

[jamieb]

Got short hair, have a mortgage, work with brands, live in the city... just people who care about other peoples lives... and small family run business over anonymous big businesses from the states... think thats called being human rather than hippie?

Sorry to blow the mental image but there's No joss sticks, blonde dreadlocks or fire stick twirling going on round these parts.

[Jimmy Slade]

If surfers consider themselves as low impact, as a soul-full possie, then they need to consider where their kit comes from and how it was made. No good karma getting stoked or zen on the ocean when some 17 year old has ground out her life and hands in a shanty set up to make you a wettie.

To be honest all wetsuits and surfboards, leashes and fins are toxic to the environment if you care that much dont surf
or ride wooden boards without any resin coats like those alaia zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz things !
Patagonia hardly a small family run business more a big boy with clever marketing to make uneccesary purchases guilt free and conscience pleasing but like you say not as bad as the evil empire of Nike mwahhahahahahaha easy to choose the light side over the dark when you can afford to buy 50-60 quid pairs of boardies rather than the 5 pound ones from Primark which im sure were made in a sweat shop somewhere

[jamieb]

Yeah you are right. Although Patagonia are now making wetties that are meant to be env-friendly. I guess you could fashion your own wattle and daub wettie or a kelp spring suit if you are keen! But if you hang on to your wettie for a long time, and pass it on rather than toss it, then at least you are minimizing your impact. Either that or we should toughen up and stop being nancy boys and surf nude mid winter! Or move to the tropics and surf in boardies all year round... not a bad idea... thanks I'm off!

Not sure how large Patagonia are but regardless: if they are doing some good work, and they are genuinely into their sports, also paying people fairly... good luck to them: Interesting article here: http://www.huckmagazine.com/features/yvon-chouinard/

His son makes env-friendly boards now too: http://www.fcdsurfboards.com/

Tough call, you can support small local business who use dodgy chemicals in their boards or a larger foreign business in Patagonia who are more env-friendly? Would be nice to be able to support small env-friendly production really. At least both these choices would, I believe, have good working conditions and pay their guys and workers fairly.

But to be honest, who in the western world couldn't genuinely fork out a bit more for a pair of boardies that are ethical... and hang on to them rather than ditch them for next years look? Dont get me started on those guys at primark... they have been busted several times for flogging young workers round the world and in the UK, check it out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7824291.stm