The Shoe’s on the Wrong Foot, Nike!

While Nike the shoe company is named after Nike the Greek goddess of victory, unfortunately, in dogfighting, there are only losers: Even the victors end up in the grinder at the end of the day. Nike seems to have forgotten that little fact, as the company is reportedly now supplying Michael Vick with “product,” although it says it has not signed a promotional contract with the disgraced former dogfighter and current NFL QB.

This begs the question posed in a letter sent by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk to Nike President and CEO Mark Parker: Why is Nike giving free swag to a guy who admitted laughing when he tossed “family pets” into the ring and watched them get ripped to shreds by trained fighting dogs? Is this a guy you want parading around Philly displaying the Nike swoosh? Unless Nike aspires to corner the bottom-feeding dogfighting market, this plan seems designed to have the company’s competitors cheering.

We hope you’ll contact Nike, too, and let the company know that if it aspires to alienate anybody and everybody who’s ever loved a dog—and to encourage them to change their brand away from Nike—it is sure to be, er, Vick-torious.

Written by Alisa Mullins