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Jim Keady Just Does It
During my sophomore year in high school I attended a social justice conference in
Washington, D.C. My level of interest was extremely small and didn’t really want to be
there in the first place. I signed for a session on “Nike in the World Today” where the
conference asked for us to break up into small groups. I met Jim Keady there who
discussed his mission to make people aware of Nike and the sweatshops they use to make
their equipment. He told his story about how he came to fight for the workers whose
voices couldn’t be heard in places like Indonesia. He influenced me to reflect on my life
and think about the choices I made in the retail world of Nike. He made everyone realize
that there was much more to what we saw while we watched a sponsored sporting event.
Jim Keady was the assistant coach for St. John’s soccer team in 1997 and was
also pursuing his Master’s degree in Theology during the time. In one of his classes he
was asked to write a paper on moral theology and through research learned about Nike’s
sweatshops throughout Asia, which underpaid workers and put them to work in
hazardous work environments. He learned that the St. John’s soccer team he had been
coaching at the time had a 3.5 million dollar contract with Nike. Speaking out against the
moral issues, St. John’s proved to be unsupportive of his new position. They [St. John’s]
asked him to either resign or stay with the team. In Keady’s article “When Will Nike
‘Just Do It’ On The Sweatshop Issue” he says, “I resigned in protest and became the first
(and still the only) athlete or coach in the world to say "no" to taking part in a Nike
endorsement deal because of their sweatshop abuses.”1 Keady thought it was very
1
Keady, Jim. "When Will Nike "Just Do It" On The Sweatshop Issue?" Huffington Post.
Impact News, 2 Oct. 2009
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hypocritical of them to go against their own teachings by being sponsored by Nike,
whom owns the most sweatshops internationally.
Going back to my high school I felt that I had the responsibility of making sure
that my school didn’t have any ties to sweatshops. I did a little bit of further research
using Keady’s site called TeamSweat.org and found out that Nike was indeed the leading
sweatshop owner. Nike endorsed my high school. I was ashamed but encouraged to
change it. I approached my principal and was immediately shot down. I was informed
that it was our only real sponsor and the others didn’t want us. So I tried to get Jim Keady
himself to come speak to my school and talk about the sweatshops Nike use in Indonesia
but once again I was shut down by my high school. They didn’t think that it would be
wise but also very disrespectful to the company that we tried to inform students not to
wear, promote, or buy their products anymore. After many failed attempts, I’ve decided
to just write about it to share in the experience about how Nike is extremely good on the
public relations side of things.
Public media is extremely important when selling something. It poses another tool
besides image management. The radio, TV, and Internet are many places where the
media decides to place ads to help promote and sell their stuff. Everything was different
after I saw Jim Keady speak because I started to question things. I started to think about
how the media affected sales. There were so many ads about shoes and clothes from
Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, and Reebok just to name a few. Ads don’t show the
realities behind the making of the products only the prices. It turns out that we usually
pay ten times more than amount it takes to actually make the product. Air Jordans sell for
about $180 but only take about $13 to make. For example article “A World of
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Sweatshops”2 tells us that Tong Yang Indonesia (TYI) Shoe Company gets around $13
for every pair of shoes it makes for Reebok, paying only $1 for labor. A TYI manager
also said, “If we aren't cheap enough, [customers] will go to Vietnam or elsewhere." Ads
don’t rip people off, the companies do by fooling us. They portray the shoes in such an
amazing light. When you hear an entertainer talking about a shoe or donning something,
you want to buy it just so you could match them. This is part of the companies’ pitch: to
sell the product.
Nike exploits their stars just like they exploit their workers. Sports athletes are
used for marketing purposes strictly when it comes to Nike. What other purposes could
you use them for you ask? That’s the wrong question, it’s how they use they use them.
Some of these sport stars are promoting injustice even if they are completely against it.
For example, a sports star whom is a practicing Catholic hopes that all people are loved
and treated equally, but in Indonesia the people are being treated unfairly because they
get underpaid and work in terrible conditions. The sports star could be promoting a new
campaign but that campaign is being made at the expense of a family in a sweatshop. The
star wouldn’t even know and technically blindly promotes inequality. Nike uses their
stars as marketing tools, which is extremely effective because it increases sales. They
exploit them and they become human brands. Reading “Concerning the Effect of Athlete
Endorsements on Brand and Team-Related Intentions” author Brad Carlson says, “As
fans identify more strongly with an athlete, the more they intend to purchase the endorsed
2
Bernstein, Aaron. "A World of Sweatshops." BusinessWeek 6 Nov. 2000: 84-86.
Business Source Premier. Web.
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products.”3 This drives the consumer to buy whatever an athlete endorses typically if it’s
their idol; this also fuels Nike to put more pressure on athletes to endorse their clothing
and shoes. Nike is known for their marketing ingenuity because they sell their product so
well.
Nike is a marketing mogul. They have been in the industry for a long time and
know all the tricks and trades. Phil Knight, the owner, has a ton of experience in running
Nike and as a result knows how to spin things. Phil Knight is highly praised by people in
the marketing industry. Time Magazine went as far to say “If Michael Jordan is God,
then Phil Knight put him in heaven. By paying Jordan and other athletes millions to
endorse his shoes, the chairman and CEO of Nike has helped turn them into household
names”4 in their article “Phil Knight: Just Do It.” One of the main things Knight learned
is the classic Public Relations spin. If questioned about the sweatshops in Indonesia or
Vietnam he’ll explain that they aren’t called sweatshops but places they equally pay the
workers and treat them well. In a periodical titled “My Nike Media Adventure” author
Jonah Peretti tried an experiment, using Nike’s own marketing tools. He explains that
Nike’s message at the time was freedom to express yourself. So he explained his
experiment, “As a challenge to Nike, I ordered a pair of shoes customized with the word
"sweatshop." Nike rejected my request, marking the beginning of a correspondence
between me and the company. None of Nike's messages addressed the company's
legendary labor abuses, and their avoid[ance] of the issue created an impression even
3
Carlson, Brad. "Concerning the Effect of Athlete Endorsements on Brand and TeamRelated Intentions." Sports Marketing Quarterly 2008: 154-62. Business Source Premier.
Web.
4 "Phil Knight: Just Do It." Time 20 Dec. 2004: 16. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web.
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worse than an admission of guilt.”5 But according to Peretti it was a classic case of David
vs. Goliath as he didn’t have enough resources to take them down meaning Nike has
more money and better tactics at covering things then he did surfacing them. The
reporters usually don’t have evidence pulled up but if they do, Phil Knight will say it’s
outdated. One of the most important things he did was prove that Jim Keady’s
experiment was faulty. He let Keady observe a “sweatshop” but it was one of the better
ones meaning: nicer conditions and healthier workers. He didn’t allow Keady to visit any
other places besides that one. This drove Keady to prove that the sweatshops did exist
and that players were being exploited through Nike’s campaign.
At the conference Keady told us that the easiest way to join the fight against
sweatshops were to visit his site TeamSweat.org. This website contained a bunch of
information from his conversion explaining his mission and the reasons why Phil Knight
goes great lengths to protect his company. TeamSweat.org explained the experiment
Keady performed which was living in a sweatshop and working as a worker. Keady lost a
bunch of pounds and was basically paid nothing. He couldn’t even buy the shoes he
made. If he wanted to, it would take him months to earn enough but he would also need
to struggle and sometimes starve himself to save enough money. Although Knight chose
a better sweatshop to do the experiment, Keady had what he needed. He is working on a
documentary showing the reality of sweatshops and his time in Indonesia. This website
has had an extremely effective impact on the piece I’m writing. It’s the only way to
connect to Keady’s campaign without actually talking to him. In an article I read titled
“The Human Lives behind the Labels: The Global Sweatshop, Nike, and the Race to the
5
Peretti, Jonah. "My Nike Media Adventure." Nation 9 Apr. 2001: 19-22. MAS Ultra
School Edition. Web.
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Bottom” the author Bill Bigelow tested an experiment with his students in the classroom.
He placed a soccer ball in the middle of the room and asked the kids to describe the ball
in a paragraph or less. The responses “it’s just a soccer ball”6 resembled each other’s. But
in small print the words “Made in Pakistan” were written down. Bigelow then went on to
explain the real situation of child laborers working to make these balls.
Keady’s mission involves many things. He wants to bring awareness to the fact
that there are sweatshops in poverty stricken places like Indonesia and Vietnam. The
workers are paid very low wages and are treated poorly. Despite his mission starting out
years ago, the sweatshops are still in progress today. He has spoke out in many places
trying to inform people all around United States just trying to explain the reasons for his
job and why its so important. Nike tries to sweep it under the rug either saying that it
doesn’t go on anymore or that Keady is overreacting and it’s not as bad as it looks. In
“Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops”7 Dexter Roberts explains that Nike does in fact conceal
employee exploitation, have child labor, and pay low wages. But the problem is things
only changed when Keady started to get involved. His presence was a voice of reason for
the people who don’t have words. Wages were slightly increased and the creation of
labor unions helped out too. One of the first orders the labors helped instill were that
pregnant workers got help and at least a 2 week leave when deemed necessary as opposed
to nothing before. Progress is being made but according to Keady not enough to make a
serious impact.
6
Bigelow, Bill. "The Human Lives behind the Labels: The Global Sweatshop, Nike, and
the Race to the Bottom." The Phi Delta Kappa International 79.2 (1997): 112-19. JSTOR
Arts & Sciences VI. Web.
7 Roberts, Dexter, and Pete Engardio. "Secrets, Lies, And Sweatshops." BusinessWeek 27
Nov. 2006: 50-58. Business Source Premier. Web.
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One of the biggest problems Keady faces is the false notion that everything is fine
now. He explains on his site that the fight is not finished. Meaning sweatshops still exist.
Just because Nike has cleaned up its act a little bit and changed some things, doesn’t
mean it’s completely fine. Keady left St. John’s because of their contradiction in their
religious beliefs that people should be treated equally. Keady sees the injustice and the
borderline slavery that occurs in Vietnam and Indonesia. He asks us to spread word in our
respective places and even try to disband brands in schools. A question often posed is
what will be the fairly traded brand? Keady admits he doesn’t yet have an answer but he
believes the brands that have the highest sweatshop usage should be illicit. Most of the
brands he discusses sponsor major college teams, which rake in money off of
endorsements from the players. Disbanding the brand would make the college lose a lot
of money. Keady thinks it about morality, not the money. “For some insight into what
makes Jim Keady tick, take a look at his feet. He wears plain, old sneakers, with all logos
and any other possible marketing obscured by marker and tape. No $100 highperformance athletic footwear for this guy. Definitely no Nikes. It was Keady's refusal to
wear the Nike swoosh that cost him his dream job as assistant soccer coach at St. John's
University in Long Island.”8 That was an excerpt from “Sole Man” which was an article
from U.S. Catholic. If Keady can give up his dream, why can’t we even donate time to
helping his new one?
Colleges are sponsored by brands such as Nike, Under Armour, Jordan, Reebok,
and Adidas. These are the leading sweatshop manufacturers. They make everything from
cleats, sneakers, and clothing. If these schools were to cut ties with these brands, they
8
Schlumpf, Heidi. "Sole Man." U.S. Catholic (2001): 48-49. ATLA Catholic Periodical
and Literature Index. Web.
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would lose a ton of money. Keady thinks that the cost is irrelevant if it doesn’t coincide
with your values and beliefs stated in the mission statements. We can do without Nike
and move on without them in world. There is no need for the company in society, yet we
struggle to keep them around and they cause so many problems despite their usefulness.
Just like St. John’s, which gave Keady an ultimatum to either stay or leave, schools have
differences in their values. The only problem is that nobody speaks out against these
things. In experience for me as I was trying to conduct an interview for this paper, I asked
many marketing executives to speak about their negotiations with Under Armour. Many
refused and not one could respond to me with a positive piece of information meaning, I
was either spun around or told that they weren’t at liberty to discuss the negotiations with
someone who wasn’t on the team. This confused me because if there was nothing to hide
or say then just tell me so. But maybe hearing the word sweatshops was a little scary for
them to handle.
Keady’s mission includes creating awareness of the tyranny Nike endorses. They
create human brands through athletes by exposing them in and out even though they
might not agree with their practices because they probably just don’t know. Phil Knight’s
experience in the marketing field in bringing Nike to the top helps keeps the sweatshop
issue under wraps. But when Keady exposes it, the media has a hard time of still
believing that Nike practices such injustice. Also Keady’s last and final job is to try and
show why the practices Nike and other brands partake in can easily be detrimental to a
college. The only reason it isn’t brought up is because nobody brings it up. He explains
that it is up to us to bring up the issue in our local areas to try to change the norm and
create a safer place.