Background of the Nike–Jonah Peretti Exchange
Jonah Peretti’s 2001 email exchange with Nike, sparked by his request to customize shoes with the word ‘sweatshop,’ became a widely recognized early example of online activism. Correspondence between Nike and Jonah Peretti contains a significant point of contention that has influenced the tone of their voices in messaging.
Points of Contention and Customer Critique
Jonah acted as a customer and a critic of the company. He accused Nike of being involved in this system by ordering “sweatshop” stitched onto his shoes. The tension between Nike and Jonah Peretti grew and became more evident throughout the correspondence. The tone in Jonah’s emails transformed from formal politeness to direct accusations in every message. Although the format of letters has remained business and benevolence, the content and the manner gave a clear comprehension of Jonah’s disagreement with company policy.
Nike’s Tone and Communication Strategies
In the emails, Nike maintained a confident and professional tone, referring to the company’s internal policies. Every email used citations from the company website. For instance, in the first email, Nike cites the possible reasons for canceling the order. In the second one, it specified it. In the last email, Nike quoted personalization rules that outlined the company’s right to cancel any order up to 24 hours after it had been submitted.
Citations made messages more justified and confident but less sincere. The formal style in Nike’s emails progressed from one letter to another. For instance, first, Nike joked that the customer’s “mother would slap” them for “profanity or inappropriate slang.” In subsequent messages, the informal style disappeared entirely. Throughout the correspondence, Nike maintained an optimistic tone, ending every email with suggestions on choosing new personalization and reordering.
Jonah Peretti’s Tone and Rhetorical Approach
Jonah’s tone is more emotional and impatient with words such as “immediately” and “thrill,” which emphasize the author’s strong feelings about the topic of the discussion. Jonah applied citations and referred to Webster’s Dictionary and the company’s website to outline the justification and a professional tone. Unlike Nike, expressive words in messages allowed Jonah to save sincerely despite quotations. Peretti avoided attacking the company excessively in the first email, but in the following, there was an increase in the accusatory tone.
In the first message, the mention of “labor of the children that made” his shoes was not identified directly with Nike. Subsequently, the accusation became apparent after Jonah first thanked “sweatshop workers” for helping him realize his vision and then asked a company representative to send him a snapshot of the Vietnamese girl who had made the shoes. Nike and Jonah Peretti demonstrated a respectful and positive tone, opening every message with a polite greeting, “Dear,” and ending it with gratitude.
Even after recovering a fundamental disagreement between participants, they expressed hope for a change in the opponent’s decision. Both took rigid poses and did not intend to change their minds. Nike’s behavior confirmed that it ignored any mentions of sweatshops and Jonah’s ironic tone in the last message when he first agreed to reorder shoes with a different ID and then accused the company again with the same argument.
Fixed and Variable Features of Tone in Correspondence
The tone of participants had fixed and variable features. Fix features include politeness, confidence, and justification. Nike and Perretti maintained them in all letters and transformed another throughout the correspondence.
Nike began messaging with a more informal and friendly tone, then changed it to a more formal and professional tone. In Peretti’s messages, an increasing trend of accusatory tone was observed. From the beginning, he chose an impatient and emotional tone that grew and, to the end, transformed into an ironic tone.