Nike’s controversial ad campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has drawn a surge in Instagram followers and likes on Twitter and Facebook, which should translate into higher sales, according to one analyst.
The sports apparel giant added about 170,000 Instagram followers around the timing of the release of its ad campaign, and the company’s shares hit a record high of $83.90 Thursday.
The campaign prompted a boycott from consumers outraged over the use of a polarizing figure like Kaepernick, and the stock initially dropped. But Nike’s online sales reportedly surged in the immediate few days thereafter.