Minor Threat (above left) and the new Nike ad (lower right)
Photo: Dischord/Nike

Looks like the folks over at Nike realized they were messing with the wrong band.

On Tuesday (June 28), the Beaverton, Oregon-based company issued an apology to the members of iconic Washington, D.C., hardcore act Minor Threat and frontman Ian MacKaye's Dischord Records for "the creation of a tour poster inspired by Minor Threat's album cover" (see "Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye Outraged by Nike's Major Threat Skate Tour").

The poster, for Nike's Major Threat skateboarding demo tour (used to promote its newest line of SB shoes), misappropriated not only the Minor Threat logo, but the imagery from the band's 1981 self-titled EP and its 1988 Complete Discography.

MacKaye, also the frontman for Fugazi, was incensed that the company never sought his or his label's permission to reinterpret the classic hardcore record's cover, which depicts a bald man sitting on a stoop, head resting in his folded arms.

In Nike's formal apology, the company says the tour poster was not created by its advertising agency, but rather by "skateboarders, for skateboarders."

"All of the Nike employees responsible for the creation of the tour flyer are fans of both Minor Threat and Dischord Records and have nothing but respect for both," the statement reads. "This was a poor judgment call and should not have been executed without consulting Minor Threat and Dischord Records. We apologize for any problems this may have caused and want to make very clear that we have no relationship with the members of Minor Threat, Dischord Records and they have not endorsed our product. Every effort has been made to remove and dispose of all flyers — both print and digital."

Despite the apology, a Dischord Records spokesperson said once MacKaye returns from touring with his current band, the Evens, later this week, there will be a meeting involving all the members of Minor Threat — MacKaye, Lyle Preslar, Brian Baker, Steve Hansgen and Jeff Nelson — to explore the legal options available to them.

"They still have not figured out what they want to do," the spokesperson, Alec Bourgeois, said, adding that, while it was well and good that Nike "acknowledged, without a fight, that they did something they shouldn't have done, this has led to a lot of free advertising for Nike, [which is] trying to sell a new line of shoes. The band needs to, in an atmosphere not of anger, wade through all of the issues to determine what's next, if anything."

• Minor Threat

<i>Minor Threat</i> (above left) and the new Nike ad (lower right)
Photo: Dischord/Nike

A Nike-sponsored skateboarding tour the company's dubbed "Major Threat" has Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye ticked.

The man at the front of both Minor Threat and Fugazi, two of Washington, D.C.'s most influential acts, is none too happy about what he deems Nike's co-optation of the Minor Threat logo, as well as the iconic imagery from the band's eight-song 1981 self-titled EP, for the three-date skateboarding event.

The tour's posters depict a bald man sitting on a stoop, head resting on his bended knees, sporting Nike's SB sneakers. The words "Major Threat" run down the poster's right side. Aside from a few aesthetic changes, the poster's a clone of the EP's artwork — which also served as the cover of the group's Complete Discography, released in 1988.

According to MacKaye, the world's biggest producer of athletic footwear never sought his or his label Dischord's permission to reinterpret one of hardcore's most venerated album covers. But then again, it wouldn't have mattered much if it did, because MacKaye never would have given Nike his blessing.

"What the hell were they thinking?" MacKaye, on tour with his current band the Evens, wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. "To set the record straight — Nike never contacted Dischord, nor Minor Threat, to obtain permission to use this imagery, nor was any permission granted. Simply put, Nike stole it and we're not happy about it. We are not yet sure what actions, if any, we can take to stop this campaign."

It's expected, though, that once MacKaye returns from touring later this week, there will be a meeting between MacKaye and the rest of Minor Threat — Lyle Preslar, Brian Baker, Steve Hansgen and Jeff Nelson — to explore what available legal options they could collectively pursue. According to a Dischord spokesperson, "they're all pissed off and offended."

"To longtime fans and supporters of Minor Threat and Dischord, this must seem like just another familiar example of mainstream corporations attempting to assimilate underground culture to turn a buck," reads MacKaye's statement. "However, it is more disheartening to us to think that Nike may be successful in using this imagery to fool kids, just beginning to become familiar with skate culture, underground music and D.I.Y. ideals, into thinking that the general ethos of this label, and Minor Threat in particular, can somehow be linked to Nike's mission."

Minor Threat were the definitive Washington, D.C., hardcore punk band and the godfathers of the straight-edge punk movement of the early 1980s, and MacKaye's Dischord Records has served as a bastion of, and model for, independent music and labels.

The last stop on Nike's Major Threat Tour, sponsored by the company's SB (that's skateboarding) division, hits the Sayreville Skatepark in Sayreville, New Jersey, on Thursday, and will feature demonstrations from skaters Brian Anderson, Omar Salazar and Danny Supa.

By press time, a Nike spokesperson did not return calls seeking comment for this story.

• Minor Threat
• Fugazi