| Vol.
I, No. 5 | Cabin
Fever / Town Meeting | Feb.
19th, 2001 |
Puzzling
Evidence Puzzling
Evidence: Freedom to Choose?
Nike's Choice is 'Not on Our
Nickel' A friend just forwarded an e-mail that's been
making the rounds on the net lately. Not only that, it was featured in
this last week's issue of The Village Voice, in the paper's "Jockbeat"
feature, which told the story of one consumer's frustration with order
fulfillment. It seems a fellow by the name of Jonah Peretti
went to the Nike web site and tried to purchase a personalized pair of Nikes
through the "Nike iD/Build Your Own" program -- a Nike feature that
lets you construct your very own individualized pair of Nikes, then further
customize them with an ID of your choice. Peretti, it seems,
was after a pair of Xoom XC USA running shoes. And all would probably have
been well, if he had opted for a different ID to personalize them. The
ID he wanted? ... SWEATSHOP ... Below
is the full text of the e-mails which Peretti exchanged with Nike. ... *******
******* From: Personalize, NIKE iD
To: Jonah H.
Peretti
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order
Your NIKE iD order was
cancelled for one or more of the following reasons:
1) Your Personal iD
contains another party's trademark or other
intellectual property. 2) Your
Personal iD contains the name of an athlete
or team we do not have the legal
right to use. 3) Your Personal iD was
left blank. Did you notwant any
personalization? 4) Your Personal iD
contains profanity or inappropriate
slang, and besides, your mother would
slap us. If you wish to reorder your
NIKE iD product with a new
personalization please visit us again at
www.nike.com Thank you, NIKE iD
From: Jonah H. Peretti
To:
Personalize, NIKE iD
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order
Greetings,
My
order was canceled but my personal NIKE iD does not violate any of the
criteria
outlined in your message. The Personal iD on my custom ZOOM XC
USA running
shoes was the word "sweatshop." Sweatshop is not: 1) another
party's
trademark, 2) the name of an athlete, 3) blank, or 4) profanity. I
chose the
iD because I wanted to remember the toil and labor of the
children that made
my shoes. Could you please ship them to me immediately?
Thanks and Happy
New Year, Jonah Peretti
From: Personalize, NIKE iD
To: Jonah H.
Peretti
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order
Dear NIKE iD Customer,
Your
NIKE iD order was cancelled because the iD you have chosen contains,
as
stated in the previous e-mail correspondence, "inappropriate slang."
If
you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a new personalization please
visit
us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From: Jonah H. Peretti
To:
Personalize, NIKE iD
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order
Dear NIKE iD,
Thank
you for your quick response to my inquiry about my custom ZOOM XC USA
running
shoes. Although I commend you for your prompt customer service, I
disagree
with the claim that my personal iD was inappropriate slang. After
consulting
Webster's Dictionary, I discovered that "sweatshop" is in fact
part
of standard English, and not slang. The word means: "a shop or
factory
in which workers are employed for long hours at low wages and under
unhealthy
conditions" and its origin dates from 1892. So my personal iD
does meet
the criteria detailed in your first e-mail. Your Web site
advertises that the
NIKE iD program is "about freedom to choose and freedom
to express who
you are." I share Nike's love of freedom and personal
statement. The
site also says that "If you want it done right . . .
build it
yourself." I was thrilled to be able to build my own shoes, and my
personal
iD was offered as a small token of appreciation for the sweatshop
workers
poised to help me realize my vision. I hope that you will value my
freedom of
statement and reconsider your decision to reject my order.
Thank you, Jonah
Peretti
From: Personalize, NIKE iD
To: Jonah H. Peretti
Subject:
RE: Your NIKE iD order
Dear NIKE iD Customer,
Regarding the rules for
personalization it also states on the NIKE iD Web
site that "Nike
reserves the right to cancel any Personal iD up to 24 hours
after it has been
submitted." In addition it further explains: "While we
honor most
personal iDs, we cannot honor every one. Some may be (or
contain) others'
trademarks, or the names of certain professional sports
teams, athletes or
celebrities that Nike does not have the right to use.
Others may
contain
material that we consider inappropriate or simply do not want to
place on our
products. Unfortunately, at times this obliges us to decline
personal iDs
that may otherwise seem unobjectionable. In any event, we
will let you know
if we decline your personal iD, and we will offer you the
chance to submit
another." With these rules in mind we cannot accept your
order as
submitted. If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a new
personalization
please visit us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From:
Jonah H. Peretti
To: Personalize, NIKE iD
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order
Dear
NIKE iD,
Thank you for the time and energy you have spent on my request. I
have
decided to order the shoes with a different iD, but I would like to make
one
small request. Could you please send me a color snapshot of the
10-year-old
Vietnamese girl who makes my shoes?
Thanks, Jonah Peretti *******
******* If you think Peretti's mild persistence
was something, you should try visiting the Nike
site. ... We did, and found something interesting in
addition. ... We have cookies* on our browser set so
that we have the option of accepting or declining them. When we went to the Nike
site, we had to decline cookies six times in order for the page to load.
That was bad enough. But when we clicked on the Nike iD / Design it
yourself image in the bottom right corner, the next window that popped up had us
having to reject an astounding 47 cookies before the page finished loading! *NOTE/FYI:
For those who may not know, cookies are small text files, often coded, which
sites use to track visitors and, often enough, to grab some demographic info
from your computer in the process. There are permanent cookies {which stay
on your PC, at least until you delete them}, and temporary or session cookies
{which last only as long as you're at the site the one time}. For example,
if you visit a site you have to log onto, and want to avoid the hassle each
time, the site will set a cookie to keep your log-on info locally. Then,
when you visit, it will check your cookie cache and, when it finds the cookie,
will log you on automatically. Session cookies, on the other hand, are
usually most interested in where you're coming from and how long you spend at
the site, as well as how you navigate through it. Of course, since most
browsers install with the default set to accept ALL cookies, most people never
have any idea of which sites are setting cookies, which type of cookies they're
setting, or how many. . *******
******* If you would like to submit
something for our Puzzling Evidence section, don't hesitate to let us
know. Simply e-mail us at puzzles@downstreetmagazine.com.
The e-mail should contain your name, address, and a phone number where we can
reach you. You may also send a copy of your proposed article. The
text can either be included in the body of the e-mail, or you can send it as an
attachment in just about any word processing format. If your piece is
accepted, we will pay a small honorarium for your interest & your
time. [See Freelancers
Wanted for more details.] *******
******* If you would like to advertise in this
section, or throughout the magazine, please visit our Advertising
Info Pages ... or call, write, or e-mail ads@downstreetmagazine.com. *******
*******
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