July 28, 2011

Why Nike is Right

You know how Nike is sort of like a big bully in advertising? Maybe you don’t. I have vague and misty memories that lead me to this opinion; therefore that’s like, totally fact right? Also I used the internet to help me.

For the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996 Nike came up with their “You don’t win silver — you lose gold.” ad campaign. In the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics Nike featured some ads that my 14 year old brain will never forget – the agony of defeat vs the ecstasy of victory. The ‘agony’ included athletes puking, getting punched in the face and spitting out blood and teeth, figure skaters hitting the ice hard, and lots of people crying.

I’ve sort of had a bad taste in my mouth regarding Nike ever since Nagano, and to me they have always seemed kind of ‘stuck up’ and arrogant. All those successful athletes just standing there, sweating and giving me a smoldering stare, daring me to try. Bastards. Also, my mother swears that Nike ‘strategically’ placed a billboard featuring “Silver Just Means You’re The First Loser” so our Canadian Women’s Hockey team would see it after they lost the gold to the US in Nagano.

Something happened today. I had a thought. Man, I don’t want to exercise today. Huh, I didn’t want to yesterday either, but I did it. Do it, I should ‘just do it’. Wait a minute….Nike is in my subconscious willing me to move my ass. Cheering me on. Or more like – standing there all Jillian Michalesish and yelling at me until I move. Then I got it.

Those athletes I was all ‘ooh don’t look at me like that’ about, we standing on the top of a mountain they’d just conquered. They had fought, and scraped, and sacrificed to get to the moment they were in, they had done it. Now they were telling me I could do it. Nike just picked them up when they were all victorious and beautifully sculpted muscular gods and put them on t.v. Oh and that “Just Do It” ad? Ya check this wiki out:

1988: The famous tagline, “Just do it”, is introduced at the suggestion of 4th grader Anthony Brown from Urban Park Elementary School in Dallas, TX.

From the mouths of babes. Faith like a child. Kids are awesome, whatever.

Okay so maybe I’m all “Inspiration is awesome! Power to the people!” Or crap like that cause I’m trying to talk myself into to working out. So What? I need a little kick in the but to get moving, you know, like a cattle prod. But more importantly, I’m changing my old opinion, plus this ad helped a lot. Way to go Nike, I’m gonna take the advice to heart. I’m gonna do it.