A Nike advert starring Colin Kaepernick has won the award for outstanding commercial at the Creative Arts Emmys.

Nike released the advert, titled Dream Crazy, in September last year. It featured the former NFL quarterback and the slogan: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything. Just do it.” In 2016, Kaepernick started to kneel for the pre-game national anthem in protest at racial injustice in the United States. He has been out of the NFL since leaving the San Francisco 49ers in 2017, and he later settled a case with the league in which he alleged he had been blackballed by team owners for his protests.

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Donald Trump was among those who attacked the advert at the time of its release. “I think it’s a terrible message that [Nike] are sending and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there’s a reason for them doing it,” the President told the Daily Caller in September last year. “But I think as far as sending a message, I think it’s a terrible message and a message that shouldn’t be sent. There’s no reason for it.”

Videos were also uploaded to social media of people burning their Nike products. Despite the blowback from some Americans, the campaign was deemed a success, and the company’s stocks rose by 5% in the weeks following the advert’s release.

The advert also featured other athletes active in social issues, such as LeBron James, Serena Williams and the US women’s soccer team.