Vick
Usually, I favor the ha-ha funny blogs posts. The ones with wit and sarcasm, light and fluffy like angel-food cake, without lots of heavy stuff that might cause a ruckus in the comment section.
This will not be one of those posts.
I don’t know much about competitive sports, but apparently there’s this quarterback, Michael Vick, who plays for the Atlanta Falcons. Wikipedia tells me about his impressive statistics and fancy endorsement deals: he has FOUR kinds of Nike shoes! called the Zoom Vick! and a FIFTH coming out this summer! and on Tuesday he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to illegal dog fighting.
The man fights dogs. He breeds dogs to fight, holds these fights in the middle of the night, bets thousands of dollars on the fights, starves the dogs so they’ll fight mean, tortures them if they don’t fight hard enough, kills them by electrocution if they don’t win, buries them in the backyard, uses the horrifyingly named “Rape Stand” to hold aggressive females still so they can be impregnated and if I keep talking about this I’m going to cry or punch the wall or puke in my mouth or all of the above ‘cause here’s the thing, people: on TOP of the brutality, on TOP of the disgust, on TOP of the horrible sick feeling I get down to the tips of my fingers just THINKING about this guy—like, seriously, my imagination DOES NOT WANT TO GO THERE. My imagination is TOUGH. It’s been known to go to all SORTS of questionable places but when I start thinking about this man’s f’ing kennel (I use that word with MUCH sarcasm), I have to stop because I do not want to see it in my mind. I do not want to see those dogs and what’s being done to them, I have to actively think about something else to push back the images—on top of ALL OF IT, there is the fact that whenever I tell people (especially people outside of Chicago) that my dog is a pit, they either say, “Pit bulls? Oh my, those are dangerous dogs!” or give me a look which says as much, and then I have to go into these lengthy soliloquies about how it’s not the breed, it’s the OWNERS, the f’ing MICHAEL VICKS of this world who TRAIN the dogs towards meanness, that any animal could be a weapon in the wrong person’s hands—any CHILD can be a weapon in the wrong persons hands, for that matter—(usually at this point in my ranting I throw in the story about how I was attacked by a dog when I was five and had to go the hospital and blood blood blood and you know what kind of dog it was, people? A Daschund. A WEENIE DOG) and my point is, Michael Vick: you’re an asshole. On so many levels. Dante should come up with an extra circle of Hell just for you.
So what I did (‘cause you’ve got to do SOMETHING when you’re this pissed off, right? Besides drinking beer and bitching to your husband? Which I already did, people, I did it a LOT) was sign this petition from the Humane Society, directed to NFL Director Robert Goodell asking him to kick Vick out of the NFL. ‘Cause I shudder to think of all those sports-lovin’ little kids wearing this guy’s jersey and thinking he’s someone to look up to. I ALSO shudder to think of all that NFL money going in his pocket.
And then I thought, Well, that’s not enough, ‘cause even if he’s gets canned and looses the seven/eight mil he makes playing ball, his real coin isn’t coming from that. It’s coming from SHOES.
So I wrote Nike at swoosh@custhelp.com.
07/22/2007 06:03 AM
Hi, Nike. I love love love your products and have been a loyal fan for years. But as a pitbull owner, I'll be saddened if Michael Vick continues to represent the brand--I'm not interested in my money going to support such an awful person.
And they wrote back:
07/23/2007 11:47 AM
Nike is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen; therefore, we have not terminated our relationship. We have, however, made the decision to suspend the release of the Zoom Vick V and related marketing communications. Nike will continue to monitor the situation closely and has no further comment at this time. We appreciate that you took the time to contact us and your feedback will be passed along to the proper department.
And I wrote back:
07/24/2007 10:15 AM
I’m thrilled to hear you’ve suspended the release of the Zoom Vick V while Michael Vick is under investigation! That speaks volumes to customers about Nike’s commitment to basic human decency; however, I’m wondering why the Zoom Vick, the Zoom Vick II, the Zoom Vick III and the Zoon Vick IV aren’t also suspended while this process goes on? It makes me extremely uncomfortable to think that any purchases I make from Nike may be going into that man’s pocket.
I haven’t heard back yet. But it’s only been a day, and they were pretty quick with their turn around time.
Do I think my writing customer service and signing a petition will change the face of the world? Of course not. But it’s a little nudge in the right direction, I hope: like using energy-efficient lightbulbs or buying a front-loading washer and dryer or taking the train instead of driving or recycling or buying a $6 plastic water bottle at Target instead of twenty-four packs of bottled water and trying—trying—to be a conscientious person contributing positive things to this world and then, someday, trying—trying—to raise a happy, well-loved, conscientious kid who will contribute positive things to this world, as well.
But for now, I’ve got a happy, well-loved, well-trained pit bull, and I’m good and pissed that the Michael Vicks of this world are giving him a bad rep, and that’s nothing compared to how my heart breaks for the dogs unlucky enough to be his.
Mojo and I would love it if you’d sign that petition.
UPDATE JULY 27th: Nike suspends ALL Vick products.