Endorsements and Products
Companies employing Vick for endorsements and producing or selling Vick-related products apparently reacted to the negative publicity soon after the federal indictments. According to the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Nike was Vick's biggest endorsement deal. The company initially announced in July that it had "suspended Michael Vick's contract without pay, and will not sell any more Michael Vick product at Nike owned retail at this time." although the company said it had not terminated the contract, apparently waiting for a guilty plea or a conviction to do so, as animal-rights activists had urged the company to do. However, Nike also announced it was suspending the release of the Zoom Vick V, a new line of shoes. On August 24, hours after details of Vick's guilt plea and statement of facts were made public, Nike announced it was completely terminating its relationship with him. Adidas announced its Reebok division would stop selling Vick football jerseys. The NFL said it had pulled all Vick-related items from NFLShop.com. Trading card companies including Donruss and Upper Deck soon followed with similar actions. St. Louis-based sporting goods manufacturer Rawlings, which used Vick's likeness to sell merchandise and modeled a football using his name, ended its relationship. The same day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Dick's Sporting Goods and Sports Authority stores have also stopped selling Vick-related goods.
Some fans of the Atlanta Falcons donated their Vick-related jerseys and shirts to the Atlanta Humane Society for use as animal bedding and cleaning rags. Others produced dog chew toys in Vick's effigy.
Read more about this topic: Bad Newz Kennels Dog Fighting Investigation
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