<nettime> a correspondance with nike

["geert lovink" <geert@xs4all.nl>]

Date sent: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 14:10:13 -0400
From: Jason Dionne <jadnn@mta.ca>

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@nike.com>
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@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@media.mit.edu>
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize@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@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@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 www.nike.com

Thank you, NIKE iD

 From: "Jonah H. Peretti" <peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize@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@nike.com>
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@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) others 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@media.mit.edu>
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize@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>


****************************************************************************
********************

Sorry if you've already seen this, but it's worth forwarding on.

As one forwarder writes:
... this will now go round the world much farther and faster than any of the
adverts they payed 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

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