The racism-flavored white tears have reached both a new flow and a new low in the circulation of fake Nike coupons. Following online temper tantrums and the viral destruction of Nike goods in the wake of the company's naming of Colin Kaepernick as its new face, fake Nike coupons have surfaced advertising special discounts for "people of color," USA Today reports.
Originally found on 4Chan, a message board notorious for being a safe space for racist trolls, the ersatz coupon promises to give 75 percent off of Nike merchandise to people of color.
Nike: Coupons featuring Colin Kaepernick's face, for 'people of color,' are fakehttps://t.co/BDOOzHd3KV
pic.twitter.com/nTSoJKidbK— 10News (@10News) September 17, 2018
Text on the fake coupon states Nike issued them "to show solidarity with the things we believe in." Of course, the word "solidarity" was misspelled on several versions of the coupon.
Another, similar coupon promised to give 80 percent off of products aimed at "urban youth" in celebration of the Kaep news, according to VICE.
They. Tried. It.
The coupon even had a barcode, which came up as "invalid" when a USA TODAY reporter had it scanned it at a Washington, D.C. area Nike store. Wow. Nike has sent an alert to all of its U.S. retail locations, warning them to be aware of the sketchy coupons.
Jack Gillis, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, believes this attempt goes far beyond just a scam.
"I wouldn’t characterize this as a scam, but a full on racial epithet," Gillis said. "This is nothing more than a dog whistle to a small, and unfortunate, segment of America. Another way to put it is that this is a racial statement masquerading as a scam."
Fact-checker site Snopes reports at least one version of the coupons includes a QR code which reveals a highly disturbing message once scanned: “This is a ROBBERY, Move slowly and put all the LARGE bills in the shoe box OR everyone DIES.”
Major eyeroll.
Now, check these out:
Twitter’s Most Savage Users Are Remaking The Nike Campaign Ad And We Don’t Mean To Cackle Like This
Why I Have Mixed Feelings On Nike's Campaign With Colin Kaepernick
