Moas: Nike's PR Move With Pacquiao Doesn't Make Up For Sweatshops

Standpoint Research analyst Ronnie Moas had some choice words for Nike Inc NKE following the company's decision to end its endorsement deal with boxer and Filipino legislator Manny Pacquiao after he said people in same-sex relationships were "worse than animals."

Pacquiao apologizes for his comments, but posted an Instagram with the caption "I still stand on my belief that I'm against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says."

Moas couldn't square Nike's seemingly PR-oriented move with its actions, which include a history of sweatshop production, slave wages and child labor practices in Southeast Asian countries.

"So Nike is pro-gay and anti-gay comments are unacceptable to them?" Moas asked in an email to investors Thursday morning. "That is great, but their use of sweatshops is okay? I guess people being abused in sweatshops can't boycott because they have no money to pay $100 for a $5 pair of shoes."

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"Nike pays Kevin Durant $300,000,000 and LeBron James $500,000,000," wrote Moas. "The 100,000 workers in Indonesia at the Nike sweatshop get paid $3 a day. Nike's market cap is now $99 billion. They could take 3% of their $3 billion profit and double the salaries of the 100,000 Indonesian workers."

Nike has been criticized over the years for its outsourced labor practices, but has tried to re-shape its image in recent years.

A Nike spokesperson told Benzinga the company had no comment on the matter at time of publishing.

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