This Nike advertisement portrays a man jogging through an urban environment while chaos is erupting around him. It is set in the midst of the “Y2K scare,” which explains the violence. In the beginning of the ad, the man wakes up and takes some aspirin, presumably for a hangover; then he goes for a morning jog. He finds people looting a broken ATM machine, cars overturned in the street, random explosions, escaped zoo animals, and even a missile gone haywire. This commercial connects with the viewer by working within a subject that is relevant to society, which then allows it to create the desire of transcending the portrayed societal problems.
In the years leading up to the new millennium, people grew more and more afraid of what might happen to all of our electronics systems when the clocks switched from 11:59 P.M. December 31, 1999 to midnight January 1, 2000. The media expanded the panic, which led to irrational decisions by consumers, such as the stockpiling of canned goods and bottled water. The rational thinkers, however, knew that nothing was going to change when the clocks struck midnight. And when the final decisive moment came, the rational thinkers were proven correct. This Nike commercial is a satire on the absurdist claims of the irrational. It portrays the worst possible scenario – the one that so many people were afraid of – and it lets the viewer know, ‘see, everything is going to be fine – that is if you wear Nike shoes.’ Of course, no one is dumb enough (I hope) to actually believe that a pair of Nike shoes will save a person from an apocalypse, but the ad creates a distinction between wearing the shoes (in other words, being comfortable or content) and not being affected by the worst of situations. So the viewer doesn’t have to be dumb to be tempted to try on a pair of Nikes. The TV spot equates comfort with being safe. The thought process then goes: if Nike shoes are comfortable, I’ll be safe and secure – why not give them a try?
The American Airlines advertisement (shown below) is another example of an ad that plays towards a recent event in our society: the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Unlike the Nike ad, however, this one does not incorporate satire. It was made after September 11, when a lot of people were still very emotional about the events that took place. The stakes were higher, because this was a situation that had a real and lasting impact on society. Therefore the commercial appears to be serious and patriotic. At the end, it claims, “proud to bear the name… American.” This sends the message that Americans are not afraid to fly, even after seeing terribly violent events that involved airplanes. American Airlines attempts to say, ‘fly with our company – we’ll keep you safe.’
Because the Nike ad portrays a relevant subject, it is able to create the desire to transcend the difficulties of that subject. It suggests the ability to be in control, as long as you are wearing Nike shoes. The jogger is at the center of complete chaos, but he is calm as can be. As a missile passes overhead, barely avoiding him, the man passively glances upward for a moment, then continues to look forward. He only stops once, merely to catch his breath, and the only interaction he experiences is with another jogger (who also appears to be totally calm). It is interesting to point out that the advertisement never actually provides a close-up of the shoes, nor does it ever display the word, ‘Nike.’ The viewer is led to assume that the two joggers are wearing Nike shoes by the ‘swoosh’ logos on their jackets. The Nike symbol and slogan (“Just do it.”) are apparently so well recognized that the company does not even need to use its name in its commercials anymore.
The Adidas commercial (shown below) is not able to enjoy the same sort of universal recognition in terms of its slogan. It displays a close-up of a pair of Adidas shoes, as well as the company name. Regardless of that, however, the ad is very similar to the Nike commercial. It embraces a similar, albeit more abstract form of chaos; and it portrays the man in the ad as being in control of his situation. In this advertisement, though, the man is isolated in his own world (a world that he is creating as he runs through it), as opposed to controlling his own life within a larger chaotic system. I suppose Adidas was trying to send the message that the people who wear Adidas shoes can feel free to comfortably go anywhere they please.
The Nike TV spot connects with the viewer by relating itself to society; then it creates the desire to surpass the given societal problems by showing how comfortable Nike shoes are. The commercial displays the message: ‘you are in control.’ The ad wants to send the message that no matter how bad things get, the consumer can still function normally. Of course, the whole “Y2K” situation that is presented is quite absurd, but that was done on purpose. Everyone likes a good joke, after all. But the message (‘you are in control’) seems a bit hypocritical, coming from a company that is attempting to instruct the viewer to buy its shoes. From the viewpoint of an informed consumer, this seems like a larger joke on the Nike Company itself. But is it really a joke, or should we be taking this kind of manipulation more seriously?
Eric Grycan
TA: David Witzling
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