An Open Letter to My Friends at Nike

We need to talk about your new MLB uniforms.

Dear Nike,

Hello! We’ve been through a lot over the past 25 years, haven’t we? For better or worse, it would probably be fair to say that you’ve had a greater impact on my work than any other company during that time, and I’d like to think that Uni Watch has had at least a little bit of an impact on you.

Since I plan to stop writing about uniforms in a few months, I thought we were largely done with each other. But then you totally botched the rollout of your new MLB uniform template, which is turning out to be a major storyline. It’s so bad that even the players’ union is getting involved. So in light of our longstanding relationship, I thought I’d share some friendly advice, which I assure you is offered in good faith.

Let’s start here: In case you haven’t noticed, Americans these days are increasingly skeptical of large institutions. A lot has been written about this phenomenon, mostly as it pertains to institutions like the government, the press, the scientific and medical communities, and academia. But because my work involves communicating with lots and lots of fans and consumers, it’s very apparent to me that people are also increasingly skeptical of large corporations. They think everything is a “money grab” (even though it’s their choice to buy something or not), and they dismiss most companies’ charitable endeavors as “virtue signaling.” It’s not that people have given up on capitalism (that institution remains unassailable, at least for now), but they’re increasingly cynical about capitalism’s biggest practitioners — like, say, massive lifestyle brands that flood the market with needless sweatshop-made crap while communicating in cringey marketing-speak. Sound familiar?

Speaking of communication, that’s where you’ve really fallen short here. We all know you have a very active comms department. If anything, it’s usually too active. But for the new MLB template, we’ve mostly heard crickets. Yeah, you put out a perfunctory press release with positive quotes from three MLB players (all of whom have endorsement deals with you, so we know their quotes are bought and paid for), but for the most part you seem to be avoiding any discussion of the many changes you’ve made to the look of the sport. Look at this graphic you recently put out to promote the new MLB jerseys, for example:

That graphic has a lot to say about how the jerseys are sustainably made (which is commendable) and also says the new jerseys have “sweat-wicking technology and an athletic cut” (which, you know, duh), but it has literally nothing to say about all the league-wide changes you’ve made to MLB’s familiar look.

That’s really surprising, because we all know that when you folks introduce something new, you’re usually out there spouting all sorts of stuff about high-tech this and lab-tested that. Now, I have to say that this verbiage of yours usually makes me roll my eyes and sometimes makes me feel like I can literally detect a few of my brain cells dying off, but at least it provides a starting point for a discussion.

This time, though, you’ve been largely silent about all the pertinent details. Now, remember all those skeptical, cynical people I mentioned earlier? They like to express their crankiness on social media because it’s pretty much the only sense of agency they get to enjoy these days, so they’ve rushed in to fill the communications vacuum that you’ve left. MLB bloggers and beat writers, who are desperate for anything to write about in mid-February, have pounced on that crankiness and blown it up into a big story.

As a result, you’ve completely lost control of the narrative regarding your new MLB uniforms. People are spinning conspiracy theories, engaging in wild speculation, and making misinformed assertions — and who can blame them? To use one of your favorite terms, you haven’t done any storytelling here, so fans have done it for you. One of those misinformed assertions was to mistakenly blame Fanatics for your MLB uni changes, so I guess we could say that your lack of communication actually helped you in that regard. But in the big picture, your silence has really worked against you.

Here’s a rundown of the major changes you’ve made, how people are perceiving and responding to them, and what you need to do in response.