Nike: Better For It

Great advertising campaigns tap into the emotions of their viewers to the point that they cannot turn away from the message. Nike’s advertising campaign, “Better For It” has done this for me. During my recent fight with depression, I was glued to my television, and Netflix TV shows. I must admit I am not a strong fan of commercials when a TV show is reaching its season finale, but my attention was captivated by Nike’s message. The commercial offers the perspective of women’s mental battle with exercise, while doing yoga, running half marathons, and in spin class. The commercial demonstrates the negative thinking patterns that women have when in pursuit of physical challenges. Wieden and Kennedy was the agency behind the creative who believed that the message should power “ [women] to be better through services, product innovation and athlete inspiration, motivating each other to push to the next level.” Not only do I believe this to be a beautiful message, but also I was able to relate to each one of those female characters on the commercial. I was able to understand the fight against negative inner thoughts and the weight that it creates over the female body. I am also able to relate to the sentiment of enjoyment when I break free from negative thinking patterns. I find it amazing that Nike has tapped into a collective negative emotion that women share, and spin it into a positive. The thoughts “I can’t” convert to “I can.” This message is such a strong component of women’s daily thinking patterns and their fight against any challenges life throws at them, albeit career pursuits or physical challenges. Most importantly, the message caters to a wide array of women, and not just sports superstars who wear Nike attire. Women dressed in Nike will feel a sense of community that transmits that all women should stay positive, capable, and resilient. This makes me feel I want to be part of this movement. I want to be part of this message. Watching advertising such as this, especially during states of depression, lightens viewers, and I can attest to its effects. I want to be able to work alongside advertising agencies that strategize and illustrate similar messages, so that I too will feel that I contributed back positive messages to an audience who needed to hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzbjEMaDjrk

I want to because, I too am #Betterforit.