More LAF Fundraising

The Washington Post has a "review" of Lance Armstrong's new clothing line. The writer, unnamed in the byline, spends a significant amount of time describing how you can only look good in cycling apparel when you are actually cycling. Yet, if you wear a basketball or baseball jersey, your fashion statemtent is considered normal.

I suppose that I can see the difference. The baseball and basketball apparel are not tight fitting and tend not to reveal one's Mesopotamia (the area between a person's Tigres and Euphrates. Got it?).

The author takes his/her sweet time in getting down to business. The real purpose of the article is to describe Lance's new clothing line. He and Nike are making some casual and active apparel that will feature the 10/2 logo. This is a reference to the day he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, October 2, 1996.

With the purchase of each item, Nike plans to donate its customary one dollar to the LAF foundation. As the writer of the article points out, the simplicity of the yellow wristband is lost with the introduction of this clothing line. With the wristbands, Nike donated all the money it made from their sales. However, these clothes will be selling for $20 to $160. No matter what the item's price, Nike will donate a flat $1.

The monetary donations from the sales of the LiveStrong bands are extraordinary. The LiveStrong bands have generated over $20million in donations to the LAF from Nike. Nike paid for all of the production costs of the bands and donated every bit of the sales. Impressive.

One question remains about this new clothing line. Would Nike, a company that had $13.7 billion in revenue last year (fiscal 2005), really suffer if it were to donate a little more than a dollar on each purchase?

Nike should be commended for monetarily supporting Cancer research and public awareness efforts, but the question must still be asked.