- Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney announced a partnership with Nike on Instagram this month.
- A Nike reviewer posted a “burnt bra challenge” on TikTok last week.
- Nike, which has resisted other protests, has encouraged inclusivity on social media.
The backlash against Nike over its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney continued over the weekend after a critic posted a “burning bra challenge” on TikTok.
Mulvaney announced a partnership with Nike on Instagram earlier this month.
The influencer’s endorsement deals with companies such as Nike, Bud Light and Kate Spade have been encountered both positive and negative feedbackwith proponents celebrating advertising inclusivity and critics claiming the companies are pushing a “woke” agenda.
Last week, a TikTok user took on a “burning bra challenge” and recorded a video of herself lighting her Nike bra on fire, saying Nike should be “ashamed of it.” ‘herself”.
“You chose a little boy with no boobs and junk in his pants to portray real women,” the TikTok user said, according to the New York Post.
The video is no longer available. The associated account is also no longer available. The owner of a new account with a similar screen name claimed he was banned for “exposing Nike”.
On Twitter, Caitlyn Jenner slammed Nike in early April for a “double standard”, noting how the company mistreated Olympic legend Allyson Felix, while celebrating Mulvaney.
Felix, former Nike runner, wrote a murderous op-ed about the company’s treatment of female athletes in the New York Times in 2019. Nike has worked to respond to the reviews from Felix and other former Nike runners.
Mulvaney is not the first transgender person to endorse Nike products. In 2016, Nike introduced Chris Mosierthe first transgender athlete on Team USA, in an advertisement.
In a comment pinned to Instagram, Nike said earlier this month: “Hate speech, bullying or other behavior that is not in the spirit of a diverse and inclusive community will be removed.”
Nike has come under fire over the years for several of its endorsement partners, including John McEnroe, Charles Barkley, Tonya Smithand Colin Kaepernick.
But calls to destroy the company’s products have generally been short-lived, with Vox calling Kaepernick’s brief online boycott. “largely confined to social media performative outrage.”