Nike's decision to use Colin Kaepernick as the face of the 30th anniversary 'Just Do It' campaign has been controversial.
Many conservative Americans have taken to burning Nike products in protests of the company's decision and one man, calling himself Mustard, took the whole thing a bit far when he made a stunt of burning his kicks - while they were still on his feet.
The man, called Phil Braun, tweeted the incident in the hope the country group Big & Rich would retweet him.
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He posted: "My name is #Mustard and I stand for the #flag and to honer @bigandrich and their Soundman & the Prresident I am going to burn my #Nike shoes!!!!!!!!!"
Consequently, he said the incident had resulted in him needing hospital treatment for his burnt feet.
People didn't really jump to his defence on the social media platform as many took the opportunity to troll him for his actions.
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One person tweeted: "How tf are you gonna stand for the national anthem now Phil."
Another simply tweeted: "Dumb ass bitch."
Phil's actions reached new heights when a Funny or Die writer, Michael Tannenbaum, took to Twitter with his comments.
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He posted: "It took less than 24 hours for a Nike protestor to end up in the hospital. He burned the Nike Shoes.... While. Still. Wearing. Them.#JustDoIt"
Pretty much summing up what we're all thinking.
All was not as it seemed though.
Phil's tale is just that - the feet photo is a stock photo found online, and Phil Braun is really a writer.
He was outed pretty quick on Twitter and though Tannenbaum pointed out the hoax he commented how the story being so believable was America in 2018 summed up.
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He said: "The fact that all of us can't 100% say/figure out whether this is a hoax or not immediately, REALLY explains how America is doing in 2018."
Phil cleared the whole thing up in a message to the Daily Dot - he explained his character of 'Mustard' is a play on 'Pickles' the child who allegedly sent the US president a note asking how much money he had and that confirming his support of Nike's decision to hire Kaepernick for the campaign.
He said: "I am satirising those on the right who are protesting Nike in this case, by mocking their form of 'protest'.
"The fact that people think this is something that might be real is quite telling about our society right now.
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"My post is really more of a commentary on how stupid I think they are, by pretending to be stupid myself. I fully support Colin Kaepernick's right to protest, and support his cause to create dialogue about race."
Kaepernick was a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers between 2011 and 2016 but hasn't played since becoming a free agent in 2017, down in part to his controversial protests.
In a pre-season game in 2016 Kaepernick decided to sit during the American national anthem in protest, as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
After the match he said: "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour.
"To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Featured Image Credit: Phil Braun/TwitterTopics: World News, News, Donald Trump, Nike, USA
