Anything you can do, She can do better!

In my advertising class, we discussed gender roles within ads. My professor, Amy Young, explained, “gender stereotypes are incredibly common in advertising such as a woman being portrayed as a quiet, submissive, sexually available, young, beautiful, thin, non-intellectual, and unemployed individual.” She then showed us a Nike commercial that broke out of these stereotypes. According to Adweek, Nike’s commercial "gives voice to a generation of ass-kicking women."

Nike’s “Voices” commercial has four of the most independent, powerful, and influential women in the athletic world. Joan Samuelson, an Olympic gold medalist marathoner, stated that during her time, girls did not run around in public. Lisa Leslie, an Olympic gold medalist basketball player, stated that the boys on her team would not pass the ball to her. Olympic boxer Marlen Esparza stated that her father told her she couldn’t be a boxer because she was too little. With Diana Taurasi, who is another fellow professional basketball player, explained that people are not used to seeing many woman being so passionate.

Samuelson, Esparza, Leslie, and Taurasi are excellent role models that represent women who went against the typical normative gender roles and continued to follow their passions. Nike did an inspirational commercial, marketing female power and incorporating it with their brand. How the ad was formatted was clever and captured the audience’s attention. 

Nike positioned the athletes in front of the camera and only showed their faces. It felt as if the ladies were having a personal conversation and talking directly to you. There was no music and it was just them talking. By doing this, the commercial had a quiet yet powerful vibe because it created an environment that was serious and calm. Then Nike filmed young girls in confident stances, holding sports equipment and lip syncing as the professional athletes spoke. This made the whole commercial more powerful because many girls typically are judge by gender roles. 

The commercial portrayed the girls doing particular sports like football, baseball, and boxing because the general public would associate those activities with masculinity. This image proved to the audience that all girls can play any sport. At the end of the commercial Nike showed its signature saying, “JUST DO IT,” thus implying any young girl could play any sport she wants regardless of her gender. 

The commercial had nothing to do with a product, but with getting a message out there. By doing this Nike created a personal relationship with young girls who want to pursue their athletic careers. Therefore, Nike’s commercial will enhance its image positively because it is sharing a new message that is empowering. The sports company is creating brand loyalty because they specifically marketing to young girls but with an inspirational message. Nike did a great job creating a personal connection towards their targeted audience.