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"I Have a Sale"?

1/24/2015

 
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Mention “Martin Luther King, Jr.” and many powerful words come to mind, for instance: equality, freedom, and justice.  A thought that probably doesn’t occur . . . “deep discounts on treadmills and ellipticals.”

A few days before this past MLK Jr. Day, I received an email with the subject line “Martin Luther King Jr. Day Sale.”  The email was from NordicTrack, the popular purveyor of a wide variety of exercise equipment.  Through Monday the 19th, the company was offering a special sale on select treadmills, exercise bikes, incline trainers, and more.

Within the email were several pictures of NordicTrack machines, as well as photos of two equipment users: well-proportioned young women in snug-fitting sports bras and short-shorts.  There was also a quote from Dr. King:

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

We live in an age in which celebrity endorsements are commonplace.  Athletes and entertainers lend their names to everything from sneakers to SUVs.  And, sometimes even after a very famous person has passed, his/her image continues to be used to market products.  Should there be bounds to such sponsorship, particularly when making a connection to a person of great social, political, or spiritual significance?

Whatever those limits are, NordicTrack crossed them by using Dr. King’s persona to sell treadmills.  Some people, institutions, causes, and events are just too important to be co-opted for relatively trivial commercial purposes.  That’s why no retailer should ever hold a “9/11 Sale,” or any manufacturer offer a “Pope John Paul II Promotion.”

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Dachau, the site of the Nazi’s first concentration camp in Germany and the place where thousands of people were wrongfully imprisoned and killed.  Unlike most places tourists visit, there were no souvenir shops to purchase Dachau memorabilia.  Such commercialization would disrespect the memory of all who suffered there and would detract from the solemnity of what has become a kind of sacred place.

Marketing itself is not the issue.  The point is to understand that there are proper times and places for everything, and there are commercial connections that should and shouldn’t be made.  The association of Dr. King’s legacy with the sale of exercise equipment is one such misguided match.

Was NordicTrack’s MLK Sale a success?  I don’t know.  Given that some people have off work that day and may spend time shopping on-line, perhaps the company sold more ellipticals than usual.  In that case, the promotion may have generated some stakeholder value.  That value, however, would have come at the expense of important societal values, making NordicTrack’s tactic “Single-Minded Marketing.”


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Jessica Wilson
1/25/2015 05:55:25 pm

I agree that this marketing was very single-minded. Martin Luther King Jr.’s memory is too great and too valuable to be associated with the purchase of exercise machines. I know last year AT&T had a similar issue that caused unrest with a lot of the public. They featured 911’s twin towers on a phone and tweeted “never forget”. This was their way of remembering 911 but at the same time it was also using 911 as a way to promote the AT&T brand. Seeing this outraged many people and AT&T eventually issued an apology. I agree that there are certain times and places for commercial connections but in both of these instances that was not the case.

David Hagenbuch link
1/26/2015 02:34:53 am

The AT&T example is also a very good one, albeit unfortunate.

David Giovannacci
1/27/2015 03:38:38 am

I think that although this may seem insensitive to the man's holiday, it is no different than President's Day's sales. There are sales on most every holidays.

Dustin Peck
1/27/2015 08:21:15 am

There are advertisements and sales promotions surrounding various holidays based on revered/respected people other than MLK such as Christmas (Jesus Christ), Presidents Day, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day. There is nothing wrong with using a holiday to promote a product or sales. Where this example crosses the line is by using MLK's quote out of context to promote their product.

Sarah Beairsto
1/27/2015 09:24:12 am

I believe that if they had simply focused this sale on MLK Day as a holiday instead of a day celebrating a wonderful leader for civil rights, I believe this sale would not be as questionable ethically. But I believe that the fact that they used a quote of Martin Luther King's to promote exercise equipment was slightly pushing that boundary of appropriate marketing. It seems almost cheesy and degrading to Martin Luther King's name by using words that were meant to inspire a great cause and using them instead to promote exercise machines. We need to make sure that we're using famous dates and celebrities appropriately if we use them at all in our advertising.

Rachel Peters
1/27/2015 10:50:01 am

I agree that this sale could be considered single-minded. While many companies use weekends as chances to push product on sale, the ethics of those decisions certainly come into question. If NordicTrack would have had a "holiday weekend sale" without using MLK's quote, I don't think there would be any problems. However, by bringing MLK into it in a direct way, the may be misrepresenting his image and certainly taking that quote out of context. There are certainly ways NordicTrack could have promoted the same type of sale in a non-controversial way that would create stakeholder value as well as uphold societal values.

Courtney Skinner
1/27/2015 10:55:43 am

I also agree that this is single-minded. Using MLK's quote doesn't honor or represent what he stood for and distorts the reason why we have a holiday. Simple stating that there is a holiday sale is enough - they went to far when they started using is words to promote the sale of their products.

Eric Hannold
1/27/2015 01:38:35 pm

I have no problem with the sale. I agree with a couple of the comments. We have sales on holidays that are for other respected people. I do not see it as degrading MLK and the company surely does not mean for the sale to be degrading. They probably should not have used MLK's quote, however I also do not see it as a huge issue. They were not trying to purposely retract value from the quote. The company realizes MLK was an important person and there is no intent to lessen his image as a great leader.

Eli Grubb
1/27/2015 02:55:08 pm

A "Martin Luther King Jr. Day Sale," whether intended to be or not, is a form of exploitation. Companies, in this case NordicTrack, are attempting to capitalize on the well-respected, revolutionary legacy of a great historical figure. I find a sale on exercise equipment to be an insensitive and inadequate way of commemorating the life of MLK Jr. Companies should refrain from attempting to capitalize on the legacy of such influential and revered historical figures. I see this as a case of single-minded marketing.

Joe Falsone
1/27/2015 02:55:39 pm


I agree that this is an example of single-minded marketing. If Nordic Track simply had a sale without the quote, or if it had been a quote by an athlete or someone associated with Nordic Track, it would have been more appropriate. It would have been another routine promotion like those for Black Friday or New Years. However, by using the quote to promote their sales, it is misusing MLK’s legacy for the purpose of grabbing customer’s attention and getting them to buy their product. It creates stockholder value, but by misusing MLK’s legacy it does not uphold societal values.

Katie Voorhies
1/28/2015 02:29:10 am

I agree that this sale was single-minded. I think that it could have been considered mindful if it had been more focused on promoting the product with a MLKJ sale pertaining to the day, not the person. However, the use of the Martin Luther Kind Jr quote out of context made it more about the civil rights leader instead of the celebrated holiday, which is the reason why I deem it as single-minded.

Stephen Kaufmann
1/28/2015 02:50:14 am

Making a sale on a holiday that should not have sales is nothing new. But in this case I do not think we are far enough removed from the events of the Civil Rights movement. Given more time I think that less people will be offended by the sale. Also taking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words out of context is disrespectful towards him and people who take what he said to heart.

Caleb Martin
1/28/2015 08:14:21 am

I agree with Stephen that if this was an issue that we resolved a long time ago it wouldn't be quite the problem it is now. Holiday sales are fine but with racial tension building in america and given the circumstances of MLK's death I believe it is distasteful.

Jessica Tonti
3/31/2015 02:55:54 pm

I personally do not feel there is anything necessarily wrong or offensive with this sort of advertisement. Sales for holiday's and days commemorating certain people are not uncommon. It does, however, seem sort of cheesy to me and not very clever. I feel like its okay to incorporate a holiday into a marketing campaign but it should be done very tactfully and thoughtfully.


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