*By Michael Teich*
Nike debuted its [controversial new ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2CvmgoO7I) featuring Colin Kaepernick Wednesday, part of its "Just Do It" 30th anniversary ad campaign.
The roll out came after some public backlash and a tweet from President Trump criticizing the company's decision to sign on the former NFL player, who set off a string of player protests the last two seasons.
While Nike's campaign has proven to be a polarizing initiative, leaving some consumers to pledging to boycott the brand, military veteran and Sports Illustrated writer and producer Scooby Axson sees the move as a net positive for Nike.
"At the end of the day I don't think it's going to hurt their bottom line," Axson told Cheddar in an interview Wednesday.
Axson, who served 16 years in the U.S. Army, thinks those unhappy about NFL players kneeling for the anthem are demonstrating false outrage and that their anger is misplaced.
"If you want to say somebody is disrespecting the flag or the anthem, the NFL does this every single Sunday when they drape that flag across 100 yards, and that's per the flag code. The federal flag code says you shouldn't do that," said Axson.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/nike-doubles-down-on-kaepernick-with-thursday-night-football-ad).
Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff, is cooperating with a House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty to helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire.
President Joe Biden is urging Americans to get vaccinated, including booster shots, as he seeks to quell concerns over the newly identified coronavirus variant named omicron.
The Treasury Department pushed for the requirement to help close the tax gap in the crypto industry by forcing better IRS reporting, but legislators on both sides of the aisle argue that the language is too broad and could curb innovation in the space.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits plummeted last week to the lowest level in more than half a century, another sign that the U.S. job market is rebounding rapidly from last year’s coronavirus recession.
Federal officials said Monday they are seeking more than $160,000 in fines from eight airline passengers over incidents involving alcohol.
President Joe Biden is ordering a record-setting 50 million barrels of oil released from America's strategic reserve to help bring down energy costs.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele says his government will build an oceanside “Bitcoin City” at the base of a volcano.
President Joe Biden announced he’s nominating Jerome Powell for a second term as Federal Reserve chair, endorsing Powell’s stewardship of the economy through a brutal pandemic recession.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
