Fun: Sweatshop
Category
Bookmark :
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" on to his
shoes.
Here's the response he got...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" peretti@media.mit.edu
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
Thank you, NIKE
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@nike.com
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@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" peretti@media.mit.edu
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@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@nike.com
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@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" peretti@media.mit.edu
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
Thank you, NIKE ID
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@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
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 passing on these things, but this time I say:
JUST DO IT
Bookmark :
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" on to his
shoes.
Here's the response he got...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
From: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" peretti@media.mit.edu
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
Thank you, NIKE
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@nike.com
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@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" peretti@media.mit.edu
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@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@nike.com
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@nike.com
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'" peretti@media.mit.edu
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
Thank you, NIKE ID
From: "Jonah H. Peretti" peretti@media.mit.edu
To: "Personalize, NIKE ID" nikeID_personalize@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
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 passing on these things, but this time I say:
JUST DO IT
