I have excised all the e-mail addresses (except Nike's) from this one, but it should be noted that Jonah Peretti who sent the request to Nike is an MIT student (so they aren't all making tasteless web site jokes about cramming kittens into jars).
My apologies if you have seen it. It's the first time that I have.
Peter Kosenko
> This is very interesting.....
>
> 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 at nike.com>
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"
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 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
> - - - - - From: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
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"
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, 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
> - - - - - - From: "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com>
> To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'"
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"
To:
> "Personalize, NIKE iD" <nikeid_personalize at nike.com> 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> ###end 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:
>
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-- ============================================================= Peter Kosenko Email: mailto:kosenko at netwood.net URL: http://www.netwood.net/~kosenko Netwood Design Center URL: http://ndc.netwood.net/ ============================================================= "Man is a rational animal. He can think up a reason for anything he wants to believe."--Benjamin Franklin