What it was like inside a Nike call center after the Colin Kaepernick ad dropped

Anyone with a social media account saw the backlash this week against Nike’s decision to name Colin Kaepernick as the face of its new #JustDoIt campaign, but for one young black man working at a Nike call center, this week has been a much more frustrating experience.

As a pair of burning Nikes rode social media algorithms to near ubiquity, he fielded calls from some of the most ardent anti-kneeling activists, Trump supporters, and straight-up racists — all while being obligated to not talk back.

Think pieces spiked. The stock price dipped. One of his co-workers broke down in tears.

Nike call-center workers have a prewritten line about Lance Armstrong, Kanye West and a host of other people customers call in to complain about. But for Kaepernick, we’re told, there isn’t one yet. Just the usual “At Nike we’re deeply sorry that you feel this way. May we take down feedback?”