I chose these 5 ads, with the thought that they all related to an aspect of swagger that Nike portrays its athletes to have. All of the ads carry this confidence, and the ads seem to all have an idea behind them that if you use these products, they will increase your athletic potential exponentially. Nike is a brand name that relies on the Swoosh and short slogans to depict the meaning of the ad and the effect that the product will have on you as an athlete, yet retains an ability to be immediately recognized by its Swoosh character.
The first ad is a picture of LeBron James elevating to dunk the basketball in a very dominant manor. He is the only object that is portrayed, as the rest of the arena is dark and almost non-existent. I believe this visual depiction expresses a message that shows that athletes who wear Nike gear, are set apart from all else, even during the most elite competition in the basketball world, the NBA. The slogan used in this ad is “we are all witnesses” which hints that athletes who use Nike gear are vastly superior. Now it is a specific slogan that Nike uses in their campaign with LeBron, however it once again shows the arrogance as to Nike’s feeling of superiority, that they endorse arguably one of the best players to ever set foot on a basketball court.
The second ad I chose is an ad that simply shows a Nike shoe product seemingly coming out of space and traveling through the atmosphere presumed towards earth. It stimulates an idea that Nike gear is otherworldly, and vastly superior to anything that could have been produced on this planet. The short slogan is also the description of the product, METEORS.
The third ad is incredibly simple. It is a simple effort to support the Air Jordan Branch of Nike. The idea is to focus the eyes of the consumer first on Michael Jordan effortlessly floating for a reverse one handed dunk, then casually have them read the scoreboard which says “Michael Jordan 1, Isaac Newton 0”, which is an obvious referral to Newton’s Laws of Universal Gravity. He determined that gravity was a force of attraction between two objects and that the force of the larger object would draw the smaller object to the larger object. In this sense, the idea behind the ad is to mock Newton is saying that his proposals of Gravity were actually false, which gives Michael Jordan the ability to float, due to his wearing of Nike shoes and gear. This ad once again expresses the out-of-this-world freakish ability of athletes that use Nike gear, and present them as almost superhuman.
The fourth ad depicts the Minnesota Vikings star running back, Adrian Peterson wearing nothing but Nike Pro Combat Football girdle compression shorts. The white shorts have smudges and dirt marks as to convince the consumer that they are game worn by professionals, and authentic as to what the professionals wear. However, the main focus of the ad is to be the scaly look that has been imposed on Adrian, which represents the hex-grid of the pads as are seen on his thighs in the girdle. This ad is actually part of a series of ads for Nike Pro Combat, faced by Adrian Peterson, and the main focus of the ad (although not written on the ads themselves) is “Alter Ego”. The idea behind it is to show that the affect on the athletes who wear the gear become part of the equipment, a tool for destruction if you will, and develop an alter ego that is completely superhuman.
Finally, the fifth ad is one that can be considered very controversial. I chose it due to its potential to be viewed in many different ways. The first diverse view is in the composure of the ad itself, in that I personally do not believe it was even an ad that Nike put out, but rather an ad that someone made as a spoof to the Nike slogan, “Just Do It”; however it is still an interesting gad to look at. This ad depicts a small boy in what appears to be an underdeveloped area of the world, urinating on a wall, next to the slogan (cleverly imposed) “Just Do It”. To me, this ad is interesting in that it both suppresses and enhances the ‘swagger’ that Nike is associated with. It suppresses it in the manner that the small boy is urinating on the slogan of Nike, apparently putting it down. On the other hand, it elevates this mindset of being the best in that its withstanding, and its slogans and symbols are present worldwide, even in remote areas of the world which may not be able to afford the products of Nike. Either way, I felt that this ad was interesting enough to post as one of the five.
Nike is a company that is associated with the Swoosh, and various slogans that encode the meaning of the advertisements, with the most well known being “Just Do It”. Nike is well known for the athletes it endorses and uses to present its label and brand throughout the athletic and non-athletic world. It is often associated with the very best athletes in their respective sports.
I like your choice of ads. Nike is a brand that stays positive, and sells their brand with passion. The last add with the boy pissing against the wall with the Nike swoosh, and the slogan JUST DO IT, makes Nike a brand of 1) you can do anything if you put your mind to it, 2) bravery & courage, 3) integrity & power... The brand is trying really hard to sell its products by using artists with a lot of influence such as A.P. GOOD JOB...
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me are 2 things
ReplyDelete1. the relationship between ads that use celebrity endorsements, and the ones in which the Nike swoosh *is* the celebrity. and
2. In the last advertisement, I think it takes only a slight adjustment to make it into an anti-Nike pieces. If the Nike slogan and Swoosh were a bit more faded on the wall, like washed out graffiti, then the feel would be entirely different. But given its high definition, it looks like Nike is telling the boy "Just Do It (pee on the wall." Important also is that the kid isn't peeing on the Nike slogan.