Nike aims to produce inspiring advertisements that treat viewers as intelligent peers. Their ads often focus on self-reflection and achieving greatness through determination and effort rather than innate talent. An ad about a girl selling her unused car symbolizes her decision to achieve her goals through running rather than driving. Another ad features an ordinary boy jogging to represent that greatness exists within everyone through perseverance. Nike seeks to connect with real people pursuing real accomplishments through sport.

1. NIKE:
Advertisements that Inspire
Leah Arsenault
Media Studies Midterm Ad Analysis Paper
Presentation
October 11, 2012
Professor Erika Sawyer

2. NIKE’S MOTTO:
“INSPIRATION AND INNOVATION FOR
EVERY ATHLETE IN THE WORLD.”
“A key relationship in Nike ads is between
Nike as an advertising voice and the
spectator's sense of identity. They routinely
comment that their overarching aim is to
produce commercials that treat the viewer
with "respect" as an "intelligent peer”
(Global Glossary).
“Sometimes the subject of the Nike
commercial is not the shoe at all, or what it
can do, but rather a self-reflection about
the world of other television ads that daily
assault viewers with a mantra of
consumption based on false assumptions”
(Global Glossary).

3. FIRST AD TO THINK ABOUT:
-What thoughts initially
pop into your head?
-What do you see that
draws you in right
away (objects, lighting,
background, angle,
etc)?
-Are you easily able to
grasp the concept of
this ad, or is it
confusing?

4. MAIN CONCEPT:
 -You do not need a car to get where you are going, if you
can run you can get anywhere.
 -The general mood created was determination.
 -“Inner drive:” the types of people who wear Nike shoes
have it, and their sneakers will only bring them farther.
 -Nike keeps its logo small and sneakers are not the main
focus= kept for you to find
 -Nike wants you to realize that you are the key element to
your success.

5. LOOKING DEEPER:
 -The leaves, dirt, and grime all show that this car has not been used
for ages.
 -The for-sale sign shows that this girl has no plan for using her car in
the future, nor does she even want it anymore.
- The cat reclining under the wheel = a symbol of laziness.
-The girl is looking down at the cat = shows power and authority
-The cat is looking up at girl from the ground= symbol of being small
and
weak
 -The background of dark clouds symbolize no matter what the
whether, the girl is not going to be stopped. This is a sign that rain or
shine, she is going to get where she is going = determination.
 -Shadow of leg= creates a line blocking in the car, almost as if to say,
“stay there and keep the cat content, my legs will beat you any day.”

6. SECOND AD TO THINK ABOUT:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JnYcuRW_qo
-What do
- Video= “The Jogger” you notice
“Greatness. It’s just about
something we made up. camera
Somehow we’ve come to
believe that greatness is a
view?
gift reserved for a chosen (angle,
few, for prodigies, for background
superstars, and the rest of
us can only stand by , lighting?)
watching. You can forget
that. Greatness is not some
rare DNA strand, not some
-What
precious thing. Greatness is draws you
no more unique to us than in?
breathing. We’re all capable
of it. All of us.”

7. MAIN CONCEPT:
 -Featured as a commercial on television this year during the London
Olympic Games = importance for targeting viewers:
“Without showing a single flag, a perfect breast stroke, or a tearful gold
medal ceremony, Nike captured all of the emotion of the Games without
having to write the sponsorship check.” (Brandi, Health Journalist)
 -Instead of featuring a famous actor or actress, features Nathan- an
ordinary twelve-year-old boy from London.
 -You can be anyone you want to be, and it is never too late to get out
there and try, or in this case, run. Everyone has greatness within
themselves, just have to find it.
 -Advertising something deeper than the product. Nathan is barely
even wearing any Nike gear

8. LOOKING DEEPER:
 -Only images in the background = grass both to left and right of the road
 -Only sounds besides speaker= buzzing of the scenery, pounding of his
sneakers and his steady breathing.
 -Only lighting= sunset-lit sky
 -Camera views create overall feel, first far away, then pans closer and
closer in, eventually to a medium shot of Nathan’s upper body. This view
allows us to feel more of relationship between ourselves as the viewer, and
him as the boy jogging.
 -The way Nathan comes in closer and closer as the camera moves back
further and further = feel running like motion too, can relate to Nathan even
more
 -Nathan symbolizes every person out there who is just an ordinary human
being, not an Olympian, or a famous celebrity. Makes commercial relatable,
feels very real.

9. OVERALL IMPRESSION:
 Nike has tried to advertise in a way that makes them stand out
from the rest in a positive light.
 Their product is made to become one with the buyers life-style,
and help them in the process of realizing their own greatness. It
is not made to make you feel like you will be living a fantasy with
it, or incomplete without it.
 Nike is a very real company, and their product is for very real
people.