Nike Gets A Surprise Lift As Viral Images Of Captured Maduro In Tech Fleece Drive Unlikely Sales Pop

Images of Venezuela’s arrested leader in a Nike Tech Fleece sparked viral buzz, search spikes, and sudden sell-outs—dragging Nike into an entirely unexpected news cycle.

• On Saturday, the United States attacked the South American country and arrested Maduro, who was wearing a Nike Tech Fleece.
• The “Birch Heather/Black” category is shown as completely sold out on Nike’s U.S. website.
• Google Trends also showed that users were searching for the term “Nike Tech Maduro,” which peaked on Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. ET.

Even as markets buzz over oil stocks after U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments about American energy companies investing in Venezuela, an unlikely name has grabbed headlines in connection with Nicolás Maduro’s arrest: Nike.

In the early hours of Saturday, the United States launched an operation in Venezuela and arrested Maduro. Images later circulated by Trump showed the Venezuelan leader wearing a Nike Tech Fleece, quickly sending the internet into a frenzy over his outfit.

Several media reports noted that social media users were among the first to spot that the Nike Tech Fleece seen on Maduro appeared to be out of stock on Nike’s website.

Nike’s Tech Men’s Fleece Windrunner Full-Zip Jacket is listed at $140 and made with recycled materials. On the U.S. site, key sizes such as Medium Tall and Large Tall are already unavailable in the “Dark Grey Heather/Black” colorway, while the “Birch Heather/Black” version is completely sold out.

A Surge In Search

According to Google Trends, the search term “Nike Tech Fleece” hit a peak of 100 on Jan. 4 at 5 p.m. ET. As per Google, a value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term.

A spike in searches for the term was observed on Jan. 3, in tandem with the hours when images of Maduro started circulating online. Google Trends also showed that users were searching for the term “Nike Tech Maduro,” which peaked on Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. ET.

Google Trends showed that interest in “Nike Tech Maduro” was highest in Chile, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica.

How Are Stocktwits Users Reacting?

Retail sentiment on Nike dipped to ‘bullish’ from ‘extremely bullish’ a week ago, with message volumes at ‘normal’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.

Retail user message volume for Nike on Stocktwits jumped nearly 61% over the past seven days. Despite the surge in chatter, Nike shares are down more than 14% over the past 12 months, as the sportswear giant’s turnaround continues to take longer than investors had hoped. CEO Elliott Hill has said the company is still in the “middle innings” of getting things right, with demand remaining weak in China and a recovery in the U.S. only just beginning to take shape.

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