Nike sales grow despite the controversy surrounding Nike’s (NYSE:NKE) new ad campaign staring Colin Kaepernick. Sales of the sporting good retailer grew by 31% over the bank holiday weekend.

And just so we are aware, the controversial ad was unveiled before the long weekend.

The stats come from researching company Edison Trends, which said: “The research confirms that, at least for now, the company is suffering no negative repercussions in sales.”

The company analyzed email receipts to conduct its findings.

Nike Sales Grow Despite Controversial Ad

When Nike unveiled Kaepernick as the face of its brand, it drew masses of criticism. So much so, that critics encouraged people to destroy Nike goods in protest. 

On Twitter, trending hashtag’s included #JustBurnIt—a play on Nike’s slogan “Just Do It”—and #BoycottNike.

So the rise in sales is confusing to those who could only have assumed that the brand’s poor ad choice would be reflected in equally poor sales, but not so.

I guess Oscar Wilde’s words are indeed true: “It’s better to be talked about than not talked about.”

Colin Kaepernick

For those not aware, in 2016 the football quarterback refused to stand for the US national anthem at the beginning of his game. Rather he knelt in protest at police brutality and racism.

Other players followed suit, and soon a protest divided America and drawing anger from Donald Trump.

He bad-named those who knelt and saw the movement as “disrespect” to the US flag. He even called for them to be sacked.

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But Nike feels differently about the football star, calling him “one of the most inspirational athletes of this generation.”

And it seems sales have not been hit, but rather they increased. The current research indicates a 17% growth in online sales from the same period last year.

So there you have it; maybe there really is no such thing as bad publicity.

Featured Image: DepositPhotos/©SergANTstar