Cob: Just DO it!

[cw]

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


___________________________________________________________________________
Visit http://www.visto.com/info, your free web-based communications center.
Visto.com. Life on the Dot.