FW: You have to read it!

["Forstater, Mathew" <ForstaterM@xxxxxxxx>]

fwd:

====================================

This e-mail chronicles the exchange between the Nike Company and the
proud owner of a new pair of Nikes.  SWOOSH!!!
I hope you enjoy it

	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... fun and games with Nike...


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

From:	"Personalize, NIKE iD"
<nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx <mailto:nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx> > To:
"'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Your NIKE  iD order
		o16468000

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 www.nike.com
<http://www.nike.com>
				
				Thank you, NIKE iD


From:	"Jonah H. Peretti"
<peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: "Personalize,
		NIKE i/D" nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx
<mailto:nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx

Subject: RE: Your NIKE  iD order
o16468000
	
				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 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
	

From:	"Personalize, NIKE iD"
<nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx <mailto:nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx> > To:
"'Jonah H. Peretti'" <peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>  Subject: RE: Your NIKE  iD order o16468000
	
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
	
	
		From:	"Jonah H. Peretti"
<peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: "Personalize,
		NIKE nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: Your NIKE  iD
order o16468000
	
	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, 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
	
	
From:	"Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx
<mailto:nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx> > To: "'Jonah eretti'"
<peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >
Subject: RE: Your NIKE  iD order o16468000
	
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 www.nike.com
<http://www.nike.com>
		
Thank you, NIKE iD


From:	"Jonah H. Peretti"
<peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:peretti@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: "Personalize, NIKE
		iD" <nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx
<mailto:nikeid_personalize@xxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Your NIKE  iD order o16468000

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

<no response>


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

Erica Gabrielle Foldy
Ph.D. Candidate
Organization Studies
Boston College

Research Associate
Center for Gender in Organizations
Simmons Graduate School of Management
www.simmons.edu/gsm/cgo

foldy@xxxxxx
(508) 655-0384
44 Grove Road
Natick, MA 01760