Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is demanding that Niketown remove a display from its Newbury Street storefront, which includes T-shirts with pill bottles and the words “Get High” and “Dope” along with its “Just Do It” slogan. The t-shirts are part of marketing for its first action sports campaign under the “Just Do It” banner.
A pair of shirts also said F Gravity with the letters “u” and “c” obscured by a graphic.
“Your window display of T-shirts with drugs and profanity wordplay are out of keeping with the character of Boston’s Bay Bay … not to mention common sense,” Menino wrote in a letter to Nike, according to the Boston Herald.
“T-shirts that combine Just Do It Get High with pictures of pill bottles are a more than unfortunate twist on your corporate slogan, and I urge you to remove them,” he wrote.
In a statement, Nike says the T-shirts are part of an action sports campaign featuring marquee athletes using commonly used and accepted expressions for performance.
“These T-shirts are part of an action sports campaign, featuring marquee athletes using commonly used and accepted expressions for performance at the highest level of their sport, be it surfing, skateboarding or BMX,” Nike’s statement said
