Nike now lets you personalize your shoes by submitting a word or

phrase

which they will stitch onto your shoes, under the swoosh. So Jonah

Peretti

filled out the form and sent them $50 to stitch “SWEATSHOP” onto his

shoes.

Here’s the responses he got…

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* * * * * * *

<

Your NIKE iD order was cancelled for one or more

of the following

reasons:

1) Your Personal iD contains another party’s

trademark or other intellectual property

2) Your Personal iD contains the name of an

athlete or team we do not have the legal right to use

3) Your Personal iD was left blank. Did you not

want any personalization?

4) Your Personal iD contains profanity or

inappropriate slang, and besides, your mother would slap us.

If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a

new personalization please visit us again at http://www.nike.com <http://www.nike.com/>

Thank you, NIKE iD

<

Greetings,

My order was canceled but my personal NIKE iD does

not violate any of the criteria outlined in your message. The

Personal iD on my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes was the word

“sweatshop.”

Sweatshop is not:

1) another’s party’s trademark,

2) the name of an athlete,

3) blank, or

4) profanity.

I choose the iD because I wanted to remember the

toil and labor of the children that made my shoes. Could you please

ship them to me immediately.

Thanks and Happy New Year, Jonah Peretti

<

Dear NIKE iD Customer,

Your NIKE iD order was cancelled because the iD

you have chosen contains, as stated in the previous e-mail

correspondence, “inappropriate slang”. If you wish to reorder

your NIKE iD product with a new personalization please visit us again at

nike.com

Thank you, NIKE iD

<

Dear NIKE iD,

Thank you for your quick response to my inquiry

about my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes. Although I commend you for

your prompt customer service, I disagree with the claim that my

personal iD was inappropriate slang. After consulting Webster’s

Dictionary, I

discovered that “sweatshop” is in fact part of standard English, and not

slang.

The word means: “a shop or factory in which workers are employed for

long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions” and its

origin

dates from 1892. So my personal iD does meet the criteria detailed in

your first email.

Your web site advertises that the NIKE iD program

is “about freedom to choose and freedom to express who you are.” I

share Nike’s love of freedom and personal expression. The site also

says that “If you want it done right…build it yourself.” I was

thrilled to be able to build my own shoes, and my personal iD was

offered

as a small token of appreciation for the sweatshop workers poised to

help me realize my vision. I hope that you will value my freedom of

expression and reconsider your decision to reject my order.

Thank you, Jonah Peretti

<

Dear NIKE iD Customer,

Regarding the rules for personalization it also

states on the NIKE iD web site that “Nike reserves the right to cancel

any personal iD up to 24 hours after it has been submitted”. In

addition, it further explains: “While we honor most personal iDs, we

cannot honor every one.

Some may be (or contain) other’s trademarks, or

the names of certain professional sports teams, athletes or celebrities

that Nike does not have the right to use. Others may contain

material that we consider inappropriate or simply do not want to place

on

our products.

Unfortunately, at times this obliges us to decline

personal iDs that may otherwise seem unobjectionable. In any event, we

will let you know if we decline your personal iD, and we will offer you

the chance to submit another.” With these rules in mind, we cannot

accept your order as submitted. If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD

product

with a new personalization please visit us again at http://www.nike.com <http://www.nike.com/>

Thank you, NIKE iD

<

Dear NIKE iD,

Thank you for the time and energy you have spent

on my request. I have decided to order the shoes with a different iD,

but I would like to make one small request. Could you please send me a

color snapshot of the ten-year-old Vietnamese girl who makes my shoes?

Thanks,

Jonah Peretti

As one forwarder writes:

… this will now go round the world much

farther and faster than any

of the adverts they paid Michael Jordan more than

the entire wage packet

of all their sweatshop workers in the world to

do…

I normally avoid making a plea to pass on these

things, but this time

I say: JUST DO IT