Finding Greatness?
It wasn’t the Super Bowl, but perhaps you noticed the number of companies taking advantage of the increased television viewership the Olympics provided by airing well-timed Olympic and athletic-themed commercials.
There was one in particular that stood out. Maybe it caught your attention too. It’s sparked quite the controversy. {The hallmark of a great commercial, no? Bonus advertising.}
It’s the Nike “Find Your Greatness” commercial. The one with the young boy jogging down an empty road. At first glance, it’s just your average jogger, plodding down the asphalt on an early morning run. As the commercial continues, his silhouette slowly moves closer and closer and you become more and more aware that this isn’t the typical runner chosen to represent large athletic companies.
It’s a middle-school aged boy. An obese middle-school aged boy.
The soothing voice over tells us that greatness isn’t a genetic gift- it’s something all of us can achieve. It’s a great message.
But why choose an obese pre-teen to demonstrate this message?
For many, the commercial was an exploitation of an overweight kid. For me that wasn’t the issue. Instead, I was bothered by the assumption that overweight kids can’t be great, or can’t be athletes. What message is that sending?
I know that’s not what they meant, I do. But it still pushed my buttons. Shouldn’t we be encouraging everyone to “find their greatness”? Not calling them out for why they might not excel in a given area, say athletics? We shouldn’t assume an overweight kid can’t or doesn’t want to be a distance runner the same way we shouldn’t assume a girl doesn’t want to play football.
I much prefer the less-viewed video in the same “Find Your Greatness” campaign. The one that ties together a number of different London-named places {clever tactic there Nike} and a focus on not a single outlier, but a myriad of individuals that appear to have overcome physical challenges or other obstacles that might otherwise prevent them from being a world-class athletes. It’s similar to the jogging ad in it’s message, but since it’s not calling out a single situation or single kid, it gets it’s intended message across in a much more clear manner.
The message is one I wish everyone would scream loud and clear. Everyone can be great. Everyone. I’m just not sure this was the way to say it.
What do you think about the commercial?
On a completely different note, somebody is 7 months old!
