Althouse: "Even brands are acknowledging the stakes of putting yourself out there — a hallmark of cringe

September 30, 2025

"Even brands are acknowledging the stakes of putting yourself out there — a hallmark of cringe — when things could turn out poorly."

"Earlier this month, Nike reworked its longtime tagline 'Just Do It' into a new campaign called 'Why Do It?' The ad, narrated by Tyler, the Creator, depicts athletes, many of them mid-game, as he asks why they are trying if failure is an option.... Reflecting on how her phrase, cringe mountain, had spread, [creator consultant Erin] Mallett said it was already a common feeling that was in need of a name. 'I gave them a personal mantra and maybe just an opposing excuse,' she said. 'If someone goes, "Oh, but you shouldn’t do that." Now my excuse is, "But I can, because it’s OK." You can’t get to the land of cool without first climbing cringe mountain.'"

From "Climbing Cringe Mountain With Gen Z/Raised online and under constant scrutiny, young adults are leaning into embarrassment as a necessary part of growing up" (NYT).

16 comments:

Original Mike said...: The Creator has a consultant?; 9/30/25, 11:55 AM
reader said...: So they’ve discovered the agony of defeat?; 9/30/25, 12:06 PM
Achilles said...: Younger generations of men have been poisoned by how society treats them.

There is no real path forward for 60-80% percent of men now.

Women making more than men while only considering men who make more than them as mates is causing real problems.

If you make the national average for income as a man, ~50k, you can’t afford a home and you will have an old car. You have zero chance to support a family on that.

For at least 50% of men under 30 years old “why?” Is the appropriate response right now.; 9/30/25, 12:09 PM
Leland said...: You "just do it", because you can and it is ok. You ask "why do it" when you are uncertain if you can or if you should. The ad is good, because it shows (and narrates) that people just ignore the uncertainty because in the end they "just do it".

It is a good ad, but Erin Mallett's argument for it sucks.; 9/30/25, 12:14 PM
n.n said...: Leaning, tipping, and falling over the parapets into a tar pit of indulgent fantasy of semantic gyrations.; 9/30/25, 12:31 PM
Enigma said...: It's ironic or an unintended consequence of digital culture. Games and the online experience are often quite "binary" while the non-online real world involves nothing but gray areas. Injuries HURT and require extensive rehab. Games, well, just restart.

People who live by simple binary online rules morphed into nonbinary sexuality...instinctive drive for a life less rigid than what is possible online?; 9/30/25, 12:32 PM
Aggie said...: Coming up next: Why Bother; 9/30/25, 12:46 PM
AlbertAnonymous said...: What the Actual F?

Nike shouldn't be messing with "Just Do It" and why rely on a so-called "creator" to come up with this garbage?

Cracker Barrel all over again?; 9/30/25, 12:47 PM
Jaq said...: There are multiple bottlenecks where the vast majority of males never reproduced, so, same old same old.

As for cringe mountain? Speaking as a wizened old man who has been through a lot, I wish I had heard this advice when young.; 9/30/25, 12:49 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "You ask "why do it" when you are uncertain if you can or if you should."

You also as "why do it" if you're questioning whether it's worth the trouble. Why go running (in your Nike shoes)?

"Coming up next: Why Bother?"

Yes, that's really the same question as why do it but it's slanted toward laziness. Why have children? Why leave the house? Why live at all?

Before seeing your rephrasing, I was over at Grok, asking "What philosopher came closest to saying that the central question is 'Why bother?'"

(Grok's answer: Camus.); 9/30/25, 12:59 PM
rehajm said...: What philosopher came closest to saying that the central question is 'Why bother?

...better than nothing is too high a standard...; 9/30/25, 1:05 PM
rehajm said...: I say I kind of like the ad. It's no Wieden+Kennedy from BITD and don't remember seeing any white guys in it but it does evoke the original ethos...could be waaayyy worse.; 9/30/25, 1:08 PM
PM said...: The mother of it all: "Go outside."; 9/30/25, 1:11 PM
Biff said...: I like sports as much as any average guy. On a theoretical level, the potential objectivity of sports for identifying "the best" has enormous cultural appeal, too. I'm trying to figure out exactly why watching Nike ads seems to leave me with an urge to despise athletes.; 9/30/25, 1:22 PM
Achilles said...: Ann Althouse said...

"What philosopher came closest to saying that the central question is 'Why bother?'"

(Grok's answer: Camus.)

Camus is a millennial version of philosophy.

Epicetus or Aurelius would have been much better examples.

Stoicism should be a high school class.; 9/30/25, 1:37 PM
n.n said...: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
- Shakespeare; 9/30/25, 1:38 PM