This Nike campaign changes the game for women in sports.

Inintail Ad campaign reaction

The Dream Crazier ad campaign gives me goosebumps every time I watch it. Powerfully narrated by Serena Williams, this is an emotional documentary piece, that cuts to the heart of the experiences of female athletes, as the ad showcases the world’s best female athletes, as well as those rising in their career. The montage of emotional documentary footage features athletes like U.S Olympian Simone Biles, hijab-wearing fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, and Olympic Gold Medalist Caster Semenya. The script announces their achievements, and re-claims the their actions and dreams being labeled “crazy”, which one can infer to truly mean, impossible.  The Dream Crazier Campaign highlights the double standards that women face in competitive sports. We see an ad making an empowering feminist statement, and it serves as a model of an impactful campaign, within a changing landscape for women in  professional and amatuer sports. Watch the 90 second ad below, and as your goosebumps settle, I’ll share how I received this ad, and how it changes the game for women in sports.

Full body chills, and tears of pride right?!

This ad premiered on TV during the Oscars ceremony in February 2019, right after Serena Williams was on the Oscars stage introducing the film A Star Is Born. I was having an Oscars party with lots of my friends over, and I had seen on Instagram that this ad was going to premiere during the show. I had been waiting in anticipation for the full ad, and hurriedly silenced the room when the ad was going to air. I was completely transfixed. The goosebumps I felt grew more intense as the ad went on. I felt a total release, I felt understood, I felt venerated, I felt proud. As it ended I was so excited to scream out of happiness and talk about it with my friends, but instead, I heard my two guy friends stifling their laughter as if that ad was stupid or ridiculous. When my friend scoffed, I felt pain in my stomach, I felt like they didn’t know me at all. I felt like they had never experienced discrimination, hardship, knew what perseverance felt like, or knew what solidarity and support even looks like. I reacted quickly and called them out with a classic “Are you kidding me?!” I told them don’t you dare laugh at that ad, you will never know their experience and how much these women have to go through. After I settled down, I knew that I should look into this ad further, this “visual love letter” that wholly consumed me, and gave me so much hope and power, I had to research it more (Gallucci, 2019). I knew these stories were deeper, and didn’t deserve to be laughed at by  privileged white dudes sitting on a couch. I agree that ““If you still bash Nike after seeing this ad, you need a serious reality check”  and I need an apology (Duffley, 2019). The experiences of female athletes, and the workings of a huge multinational brand is a complicated, intersectional, and transnational issue.

Campaign Information

The ‘Dream Crazier’ ad created by Wieden + Kennedy of Portland, is a follow up to the Nike ‘Dream Crazy’ campaign that premiered in the Fall of 2018, narrated by, and featuring former NFL player Kyle Kaepernick. Surrounding much of his national controversy, specifically around his Black Lives Matter protests, Nike made a political statement by featuring him as the face of their campaign. More prominently and on brand, the content of the ad spot focused on the emotions of how how crazy it seems to want to be a professional athlete, and how foolhardy it may seem, but the ad of course validated that crazy dream.  The two ad campaigns, Dream Crazy, and Dream Crazier, also function as a chapter in the company’s history, as it marks the 30th anniversary of their infamous “just do it” campaign. Dream Crazier is a more documentary style follow up, with a strong female focus.

With the ‘Dream Crazy’ and ‘Dream Crazier’ campaigns, Nike is aligning themselves with new mainstream narratives of social justice oriented marketing. There are many critiques to this new style of marketing, but I believe that this ad expresses true “brand values” and the Dream Crazier campaign possess positive “short-term and long-term impacts of a campaign” (Monllos, 2019).  What makes this an impactful campaign is that it is also utilizing the social media platform of Instagram TV (IGTV) to expand the story telling, by featuring multiple 5 minute documentaries about women athletes and their sports teams. These short docs from the Dream Crazier Campaign can be viewed on Nike’s youtube playlist here.

Changing the Stereotypes of Women in Advertisements

One story that particularly stuck out to me from the additional IGTV series, is the story of The Honeybees, the plus size dance team for University of Alabama. This ad campaign changes the narrative of how women are portrayed in advertising, by showing emotional vulnerability, plus size women, and exclusively women of color, especially African American women. The HoneyBees reminded me of the work of Naomi Wolf and her recorded lecture titled “The Beauty Myth” (Youtube, 2009). Wolf asks her audience to respond to the dichotomies and corresponding hierarchies in the beauty industry related to advertising. She asks her audience to respond with questions  like “are the models slim or heavy set? Are the models white or women of color?” And each reply affirms her point, and showcases the dangerous inequalities of beauty standards in advertising and popular culture, that favor white, skinny women. This video came out in the mid 90s and i am happy to see a diversity of stories being told now, and more body shapes being represented, in authentic storytelling for ad campaigns. The HoneyBees are Black women who dance and hype up the crowd at sports games. Their story is about their journey through dance, and how they learned to love themselves, for the color of their skin for their hard work, for their creative spirit, and for a powerful sisterhood. They take on the challenge of being role models, loving themselves, and how they spread cheer in their community. The Instagram TV videos are all truly special, as they celebrate fully the bodies of Black women, and they they offer the opportunity for those women to be in charge of their narratives. This is an achievement to have such narratives in mainstream media.  

However celebratory the ad may position itself, Nike being a multi billion dollar company, further analysis of ethics  and media should be brought into the critique. Modern day sports have become been inexplicably entwined with corporations, functions of capitalism, and unacceptable labor and manufacturing practices.  Due to my experience of seeing the video for the first time and my male friends laughing, I empathize with the athletes, and I find it unfortunate that these female athletes are being critiqued for the capitalist sports complex system they are representing, before they are seeing their dues as professional athletes. Are these not other burdens that women are especially subject to?

In an article from Feminist Media Studies, an academic journal focusing on communications from a feminist perspective, author Jennifer McClearen introduces “women in sports media: new scholarly engagements”,  which highlights many scholars analysing “a contemporary media landscape where women and girl’s empowerment is becoming profitable for advertisers and brands, which yields a feminism that Andi Zeisler (2017) calls “marketable” and Sarah Banet-Weiser (2015) calls “popular.” (McClearen). This media trend is growing entwined with targeting women as a new a new market,  for merchandising and fandom, and we are a new market because sports has been so overwhelmingly male dominated before today.In a frustrating way, “girl’s empowerment” and bodily autonomy of women, is being co opted as “marketable”, which demeans the strength and autonomy that these female athletes are expressing. It is infuriating that their unique careers; that break stringent social norms  on an international level, will begin to be taken advantage of. Female athletes deserve to pursue their passions, and gifts for athletics, without being persecuted of representing corporate greed. Their journeys, and lives are much more than that.

Script break-down

This ad literally flips the script on the narratives of women in sports. It takes the hateful and gendered language and re-works it into  an empowering message. Serena Williams narrates the portion from the 90 second ad spot below:

“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic. If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, we’re delusional. When we stand for something, we’re unhinged. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just being crazy.

But a woman running a marathon was crazy. A woman boxing was crazy. A woman dunking, crazy. Coaching an NBA team, crazy. A woman competing in a hijab; changing her sport; landing a double-cork 1080; or winning 23 grand slams, having a baby, and then coming back for more, crazy, crazy, crazy, and crazy.

So if they want to call you crazy, fine. Show them what crazy can do.”

This script is defiant. This script outlines in simple language the double standards and gendered discrimination that is blatant to many.This script is Michelle Obama saying “when they go low, we go high”. It is a stepping stone, an acknowledgement of women who have made, and are making history,  it is a call to action.

A particularly powerful and relevant line, “When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us”, highlights the story of  Caster Semenya, as she flashes across the screen and raises her arms in victory. Caster Semenya is a two time Olympic Gold Medalist from South Africa, and her career has been accompanied by a “toxic combination of racism, sexism, and homophobia”, due to the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), subjecting her to sex testing, due to naturally high testosterone levels (Crouse, 2019). Semenya is often lauded for her character and sportsmanship on the international stage, in addition to the spectacle that journalists and sports officials generate around her “gender normativity” and “female masculinity”, on a physical and chemical level (Munro, 2010).

This graphic that has recently been circulating on social media is a well suited comparison of how intersectionality, and systems of oppression and imperialism still play out in sports on an international level. Semenya continues to compete in her sport, and she continues to garner more support for women in sports. It is empowering to see her on screen, in the ranks of established, and burgeoning female athletes.

Serena Williams’ Prowess

Despite capitalism and many other isms navigating their way into sports, we still have the voice, and prowess of Serena Williams to urge us forward. She is one of the most recognizable, and most acclaimed athletes in the world, and “the use of Serena Williams as the narrator amongst a number of athletes reflects her standing as one of the most inspirational athletes of her generation,” a Nike representative told AdWeek (Monllos, 2019).

Campaign Impact

Companies considering the short term, and long term impact of an ad campaign is a criteria for changing media landscape. I believe this ad campaign will serve as a model for how to make an impact with an ad campaign. Marketing has the capabilities to make changes for good causes as well as sell products. Young girls now have role models, they have representation and visibility, and that has a large impact. Going along with an ubiquitous advertising slogan, Nike truly is ‘selling a dream’. A dream that has the power to transcend one’s personal and societal barriers. This campaign is a step forward for female athletes. This campaign tells us to chase that  crazy, and crazier dream.

Citations

1. Nike, Nike. YouTube, YouTube, 24 Feb. 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpJ19RJ4JY.
2. Gallucci, Nicole. “Nike’s ‘Dream Crazier’ Ad Is an Empowering Visual Love Letter to Women.” Mashable ME. Mashable, 25 Feb. 2019. Web. 1 May 2019.
3. Duffley, John. “Nike Salutes Female Athletes With Powerful ‘Dream Crazier’ Commercial.” FanBuzz. FanBuzz – Sports News – NFL | NCAA | NBA | WWE, 25 Feb. 2019. Web. 1 May 2019.
4. Monllos, Kristina. “Nike and Serena Williams Redefine What It Means to Call a Female Athlete Crazy.” – Adweek, Adweek, 24 Feb. 2019, www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/following-its-kaepernick-ad-nike-taps-serena-williams-for-a-stirring-celebration-of-women/.
5. hudsonunionsociety. YouTube, YouTube, 17 Feb. 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjKx_p5KwEk.
6. McClearan, Jennifer. “Introduction: Women in Sports Media: New Scholarly Engagements.” Feminist Media Studies, University of Texas at Austin, 5 Sept. 2018, www-tandfonline-com.ccl.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2018.1498088.
7. Munro, Brenna. “Caster Semenya: Gods and Monsters.” Taylor & Francis Online. Safundi The Journal of South African and American Studies, 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 1 May 2019.
8. “MEGA Meanwhile When Medical Tests Proved That Michael a Court Just Ruled That South African Olympic Runner Caster Semenya Must Take Medication to Reduce the Testosterone That Her Body Naturally Produces If She Wants Phelps’ Body Produces Less Than Half the Lactic Acid That His Competitors Produce the Olympic Committee Praised How Lucky Is Was to Have Such an Insane Genetic Advantage to CompeteE Advantage CAN IAAF Bullshit on Athletic Fairness | Mega Meme on ME.ME.” Me.me. N.p., 2019. Web. 5 May 2019.
9. Crouse, Lindsay. “When One of the World’s Most Visible Athletes Is Told She Can’t Be One.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 May 2019. Web. 8 May 2019.