NYT: Nike's Female trouble - Nike is sticking with both Woods and Roethlisberger.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/nikes-women-problem/?ref=opinion

Is there anything creepier than a big, beer-breathed celebrity athlete exposing himself in a night club and hitting on underage girls, all the while protected by an entourage of off-duty cops? Well, yes. It’s the big, corporate sponsor — Nike, in this case — that continues trying to sell product with the creep as their role model.

...

After hours of drinking and carousing, the six-foot-five-inch football player followed an intoxicated 20-year-old student into a club’s bathroom and forced her to have sex, the woman told police. When her friend appealed for help, she was ignored by the bodyguards, the report indicated. Prosecutors said they would not file charges against the quarterback — in part because of sloppy police work by officers who fawned over the athlete — but they castigated his behavior. This was the second time in less than a year that Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault.

...

What, exactly does it take for Nike to dump a jock? Dog-fighting will do it. After Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to running a felony dog-fighting ring, Nike took action. “We consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and unacceptable,” the company said at the time.

But cruelty to women is O.K. I don’t know how else to read the company’s inconsistent stand. Here is a guy who treats women like garbage, yet a company that boasts of having humane corporate values uses him as their front man. Ditto Tiger Woods. Same with Kobe Bryant after a rape allegation, a case that was later dropped.

...

...he still wears their stuff...that they provide for him...he's a walking endorsement.

Hey, Nike has no problems with sweat shops, so why should they care if they dump on women also?

animal snuff tapes with the stiletto-healed women stomping small animals, next. Most big business seems to have no conscience. :eyes:

I do and my dollars reflect.

Why would they be concerned about their celebrities screwing everything in sight?

Is the law different in Georgia, are 20 year olds considered to be underage? And if as reported the young lady was intoxicated, why does this bar still have its license?

What Roethlisberger did was wrong, and if it was my daughter he wouldn't be throwing a football again, ever!!!

But when reporters start making things up, like "underage girls", then their own credibility is in question. Like Joe Friday use to say on Dragnet, "just the facts".

such things. I don't see them caring. I mean if their labor practices didn't turn you off to their products, I can't see why this stuff would bother you.