"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 are the responses he got...
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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
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 one might say: "JUST DO IT"