... which almost seems as if it were made to set up this hilarious parody:
I think the parody works better than the original, because in the original, the viewer is called to greatness at the highest level. You're supposed to be striving to be the very best in the world. Like: if you play tennis, you ought to be Serena Williams. That's extreme fantasy. But if you re-envision the whole spiel as a message to Trump, well, he did it, and we're only called to realize that he did. Now, what was crazy, is really true.
Here's the text of the ad, which makes little sense addressing the "you" who's an ordinary person sitting around watching a shoe ad, and snaps into crystalline sense when the "you" is Trump:
If people say your dreams are crazy. If they laugh at what they think you can do — good. Stay that way. Because what non-believers fail to understand is that calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.
Don’t try to be the fastest runner in your school, or the fastest runner in the world — be the fastest ever. Don’t picture yourself wearing OBJ’s jersey, picture OBJ wearing yours. Don’t settle for homecoming queen or linebacker, do both.
Lose 120 pounds and become an Ironman — after beating a brain tumor.
Don’t believe you have to be like anybody, to be somebody. If you’re born a refugee, don’t let it stop you from playing soccer, for the national team — at age 16. Don’t become the best basketball player on the planet. Be bigger than basketball.
Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.
When they talk about the greatest team in the history of the sport, make sure it’s your team. If you only have one hand, don’t just watch football — play it at the highest level.
And if you’re a girl from Compton, don’t just become a tennis player — become the greatest athlete ever. Yeah, that’s more like it.
So don’t ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they’re crazy enough.
Posts
104 comments:
The parody will be bigger than the original. It will be on Fox within days.
How could Nike’s ad agency be so, so stupid? People need to be fired.
Why is Colin Kaepernick in an advertisement about greatness?
This is the first time I've seen the ad. Pretty drippy...
Nice. The superimposed Trump with K's fro is bad- distracting. I get you want to diss K but the other Trump stuff does it better.
Are they saying Serena Williams is the greatest athlete ever? Really? How far would she get competing against the top male tennis players?
Donald J. Trump
Verified account @realDonaldTrump
12m12 minutes ago
What was Nike thinking?
Why is Colin Kaepernick in an advertisement about greatness?
There's a belief by some that he was a great NFL quarterback. None of those 'some' are NFL teams experienced at evaluating what makes a good NFL quarterback. It's people who think he doesn't have an NFL job because racist and people who want to capitalize on that to sell shoes.
Nike has customer analytics. They have teams of people they pay lots of money to identify their customers and how to reach them. I have no teams of people just me, and I do not have any customer data, just a hunch.
The conventional wisdom is that Nike, with their teams of experts, have identified that they can capture 100% of the customer base that identifies with Colin Kaepernick while losing only a small number of those not in that category. Presumably Nike has estimates about (A)how many more customers they will get and the amount of money they will spend on the Nike products, and (B)how many customer dollars they will lose. Their analytics team no doubt has spreadsheets reporting how A is greater than B. Much greater.
My hunch says, um, no.
But I am probably wrong.
A guy who wears a Castro shirt takes a million dollars from a company that exploits impoverished workers of color in dreary dead-end jobs with no health benefits.
Way to stick it to The Man.
I am Laslo.
Don't believe you have to play Football in the USA. You can play in Canada.
This reads like an advertisement for steroids.
If Kaepernick was all that great, wouldn't he have a quarterback job?
As a player, Kaepernick sucked and was cut by the 49ers. The Niners wanted him to become more of a pocket passer, because they feared that he ran too much and would get knocked out, as what happened to Robert Griffin lll.
He couldn't do it, and was benched. Then, he started kneeling. Then, he was cut.
As for Trump, well, he just shocked the world and continues to shock it as GDP is high, the stock market is high, and unemployment is low.
Ridicule is man’s most powerful weapon. Saul Alinsky.
Nike does not want Tank's business. Clearly.
I started wearing Nikes back when people did not know how to pronounce Nike, but my last couple of buys have been other brands. Their quality has gone down IMHO.
Okay, the Cleveland Browns don't have any experience evaluating what makes a good NFL quarterback but they didn't pick him either.
Scappleface has a really funny bit about Nike.
The No Fun League is Not For Long. They have gone stupid.
In other news, Burt Reynolds died. Reynolds was an a-list college running back, but had to give it up due to injuries. He didn't even try acting until his football dreams were dashed.
Kaepernick is a handsome guy. He could turn to acting.
Kapearnick may believe some of this BS but I gotta believe he also recognizes a good income stream when he sees one. If he can speak well then ESPN may be on his horizon.
He’s certainly doing better than Johnny Manziel.
rehajm said...
Okay, the Cleveland Browns don't have any experience evaluating what makes a good NFL quarterback but they didn't pick him either.
Johnny Manziel has sucked it up, maybe even stopped drinking, and is playing in the CFL. Not Kaepernick. The Montrael Alouettes have his negotiating rights. His agent doesn't return their calls.
"Kaepernick is a handsome guy. He could turn to acting. "
I thought he was.
Companies now pay teams of people lots of money to develop and implement virtue signaling campaigns because companies believe this is an effective way to reach the sweet spot in the demographics- younger millennials and Gen Z. These demo groups hate hate hate big companies. Ergo, it's up to big companies to find ways to combat those feelings. Apparently Nike thinks you do it with this.
This is one of the great flaws in the low-consumption lifestyle; if you don't buy anything, you can't creditably boycott anything either. On re-reading, my strongly-worded letter telling Nike that I was continuing to not buy their products just seemed to lack a certain impact.
At 7:13 Tommy Duncan asks a really good question. If you want an athlete who became the best ever, why would you choose someone who had s couple good, but scarcely memorable seasons as a starting quarterback in the NFL, but quickly faded when defensive coordinators learned how to defend against him?
Why wouldn't you use Tom Brady, who was supposed to be a backup quarterback in college (he backed up Brian Griese and then was platooned with Drew Henson), and was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round (!) to be a backup to Drew Bledsoe. It seems to me that Brady’s story matches the ad copy far better than Kaepernick’s.
Love the 'fro on Trump.
Disappointed that Nike didn't come out with a "Cops as Pigs" clothing line, beginning with Kaepernick's socks. It would capture the market in Chicago and the studio's of MSBNC.
There are athletes who fit Nike's bill of goods better than Kaepernick. Athletes who actually are, or have been the best in their sport and who achieved that dream by obsessive, unrelenting self-improvement. By any rational measure, these people are crazy:
Tom Brady.
Tiger Woods.
Barry Bonds. He was one of the best ever and it wasn't enough. He had the crazy dream to be the greatest.
Like I said, this is an advertisement for steroids.
The Trump parody really does remind you what a Cinderella story Trump's victory was.
Team Trump beat the the team who thought they had rigged the game and couldn't lose.
Team Trump beat Team Ugly Stepsister.
And Team Ugly Stepsister now says Team Trump didn't really win.
As "My name goes here" points out above, this may very well be a calculated decision on Nike's part. A lot of its sales growth comes from overseas, particularly China, and a vaguely anti-American sales pitch won't harm the sales. In this country, my guess is that young people buy sneakers and maybe Kaepernick gives off a cool, Che vibe. Plus now the leftists will shut up about Nike's use of slave child labor because being anti- Trump takes priority over child slaves as the defining moral issue of our era..........In any event, football is a dying sport. Al those rule changes are like Parliament's recessed filter. The filters didn't prevent lung cancer, and the rule changes won't prevent brain trauma.......Football is an exciting game to watch, but it takes some of the fun out of it, if you know the players are destroying their minds. It also takes some of the fun out of it, if they're unpatriotic wife beaters. I'd even have trouble cheering for a patriotic wife beater.
Johnny Manziel has sucked it up, maybe even stopped drinking, and is playing in the CFL. Not Kaepernick. The Montrael Alouettes have his negotiating rights. His agent doesn't return their calls
Heh. I've believed there are parallels between Kaepernick and Doug Flutie, at least when it comes to not staying in the pocket. Flutie won some Grey Cups.
Paco Wové said...
if you don't buy anything, you can't creditably boycott anything either.
LOL. Great take.
"Their analytics team no doubt has spreadsheets reporting how A is greater than B. Much greater."
yeah Nike analytics = Boomer market smaller & shrinking. Millennial market bigger & growing. Trump's rhetoric about the NFL is geared to appeal to his base, which is largely Boomers. Trump's loosing Millennials by a lotta points. Generation Gap.
Thus, Nike analytics. Elderly people less likely to buy stuff. Retired people buy a lot less stuff. Much less likely to buy athletic gear.
Elderly people bought their stuff before they retired, they aren't growing kids, they aren't young adults supplying their closets, they aren't the crowd getting into sports for the first time. Nike analytic team made their conclusions.
It's no secret that I'm a big believer in social justice and change.
But I'm also a big believer in shoes. Hope that is not rooted in socially-aware shoes will never lead to the change we desire.
If you don't like the shoes you wear, you can't just close your eyes and long for better shoes. You've got to open them, embrace reality, and channel that hope into purchasing more socially-responsible footwear.
Nike didn't become that shining shoe store on the hill by wishing for it. They built it with clear eyes, righteous exploitation of impoverished people, and socially-aware athletic shoes.
So I'm asking you to recall that unlikely store of Nike -- a store that forever validates our hope -- and help write its next chapter.
I'm asking you to be neither blind to, nor dismayed by, reality -- but motivated by it. Motivated to purchase shoes.
There is no time to feel discouraged. Now is the time to get organizing with Nike before November's crucial holiday-shopping season.
Ann, those who believe in democracy and civil rights and a more-inclusive shoe will always have the upper foot. That's not just something I want to believe; I believe it because marketing surveys have proven it true.
If we want a more perfect union, we need to build it together, from the footwear-and-related-sportswear-accessories up.
Say you'll make the purchase to make this vision a reality.
I am Laslo.
When does the Kaepernick as Spartacus ad come out?
A little tweaking and it could be an effective campaign ad. Instead it's a Jib Jab video.
Add to the Barry Bonds binder of greatness:
Lance Armstrong.
Believe in something, even if it doesn't make sense.
Think about this ad with Lance Armstrong. Unlike Kaepernick he actually was the greatest at his sport. He actually did survive cancer to do so. He actually did stick it to the non-believers. He did this by obsessive training. And he did it by relentless, shameless cheating. He made his team by the greatest in his sport by demanding they cheat too. And so, he gave up everything to achieve his dream.
I forgot Gen Z. 65 million in the USA. Oldest have graduated college.
Adidas should pick up Tim Tebow. He won't cost them tens of millions, either.
The next time I visit a NikeTown store, I'm gonna take a knee.
"He’s certainly doing better than Johnny Manziel."
Johhny Manziel is actually playing quarterback in a professional football league. But probably not getting as much $dough as Kaepernick.
I keep hearing Nike has is a big business knows what it is doing because of all the smart people analyzing the risks versus rewards. To those people I have one thing to say:
New Coke
Better than this video parody is the print ad meme.
"Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything..."
======
I guess that means Kap is doing this Nike promo for free, right?
Who is OBJ?
Does anyone else expect we will see Kaepernick running for political office within the next few years?
I completely support what Kaepernick is doing, but it’s hypocritical for Nike to take the moral high ground on this or any issue.
Plus now the leftists will shut up about Nike's use of slave child labor because being anti- Trump takes priority over child slaves as the defining moral issue of our era.
Bingo !
I saw the parody before I saw the real Nike ad. It is better. I saw the real commercial last night on NBC and it seemed off. It's the soundtrack. It's way too sappy for what's going on in the video. It's too cloy.
Odell Beckham jr. Wide Receiver, New York Football Giants.
Are they saying Serena Williams is the greatest athlete ever?
The greatest athlete ever was Secretariat.
No one else even comes close.
My name goes here. said...
Nike has customer analytics... Presumably Nike has estimates about (A)how many more customers they will get and the amount of money they will spend on the Nike products, and (B)how many customer dollars they will lose.
The guy from Barstool Sports on Tucker Carlson thought this was a good move by Nike because the controversy would reinvigorate a brand that's getting long in the tooth.
Contra, my gut says when your brand is getting tired the last thing you want to do is give a large segment of your market an actual reason to walk away and search for something new.
Black man doing narration. Black young adult skateboarding. Disabled black child wrestler. Woman boxer in hijab. White woman surfer (I think). Disabled white woman basketball player. Black child, then man, runner. White woman football player. Overweight white guy doing triathlon. Skateboarder of indeterminate ethnicity. Black man soccer player. Black man basketball player (Lebron James). White women soccer players. Black men football players. Black woman tennis player.
Maybe Nike’s target audience isn’t white guys (unless they are overweight and have brain tumors). Fine with me. I like it better when people aren't trying to sell me something.
Serena Williams is ok, but Julie Newmar makes her look fat.
Watching pro football is “acting black.”
Holy Cow....Kaepernick has such a whiny little voice. Somehow that seems fitting.
Hey since we're talking so much about dog whistles these days I guess everyone's just cool with a guy who's close with "religious extremists" like Linda Sarsour using the phrase "non-believers," huh?
Hey this is an easy game!
Took a while to find this.
What a stupid decision by Nike. 35% drop in favorability?
Nike's Favorability Drops Double Digits
BRAND INTELLIGENCE
Nike's Favorability Drops Double Digits Following New ‘Just Do It’ Campaign with Colin Kaepernick
Real-time brand tracking data reveals a sharp drop in favorability and purchasing consideration, including among key demographic groups
Believe in something even if it costs you everything.
--Jim Jones
I mean that's just set up for parody, right? I've seen some on Twitter already!
The concept that a value-neutral full embrace of "some" belief is itself praiseworthy (without regard to what the actual belief is/entails) so perfectly encapsulates the solipsistic, narcissistic, postmodern relativistic modern ethos that it's hard to believe it didn't start as a parody.
Superimpose that quote over a picture of Hitler Youth marching. Superimpose that quote over a picture of an airliner about to smash into the World Trade Center. Yup.
“Heaven’ Gate” cult members all wore Nike. Just do it!
Best line about the commercial - Trump’s economy is doing so good, even Kaepernick got a job at Nike!
Actual terrific Nike ad: Michael Jordan: Failure
Hey, and it stars a black man! How progressive--it's sad that all those people who weren't racist back then became racists (because of Trump, I guess) and now have to have someone like Kaepernick stand up and scold them for their racism.
Disappointed that Nike didn't come out with a "Cops as Pigs" clothing line, beginning with Kaepernick's socks.
There are two facts which show Kaepernick's branding differs from reality. The first was his interview shortly after the controversy broke. He was unable to explain even basic concepts and it was immediately clear he is parroting positions he doesn't understand. The second is the pig socks showing whatever he pretends his position is boilerplate hatred driven by racial solidarity. The two positions are not independent since both likely come from his girlfriend.
He's just a numbnut who was a convenient hook for the media to pursue their agenda.
I love the cynicism of a Nike ad puffing another Nike endorser. It's fun to imagine all the woke thrilling to corporate propaganda. Remember when the Left was all up in arms because a for profit multinational corporation, CNN, wasn’t treated with enough respect?
But Airs are great shoes and I'll still buy them.
They're encouraging young guys to rack themselves on handrails.
Business decisions are more complicated than just product marketing considerations.
Nike is not such a large company that it can ignore the needs of its various business partners and their interests. Nike has a political channel in its advertising, it can play politics also, it is in that sense a media company.
It is entirely possible the ad was done mainly for political reasons, in service of a larger purpose, to curry favor with or propitiate persons further up the chain, a purpose large enough to justify creating ill-will among some of its customers.
Don't you think that the NFL and Nike as marketing partners should unilaterally refrain from doing stuff that hurts the other party? This ad can not be good for the NFL, with its older fan base, even though it may do okay with Nike purchasers.
Nike has always sold shoes. Now they sell social justice and self-rightous shoes.
Why? They and others have identified and untapped market. Anti-capitalist SJW's happy to enrich corporate coffers in the name of moral superiority.
The greatest athlete ever was Secretariat.
No one else even comes close.
It helps to have a 20 pound heart, which he did.
It is entirely possible the ad was done mainly for political reasons, in service of a larger purpose, to curry favor with or propitiate persons further up the chain, a purpose large enough to justify creating ill-will among some of its customers.
The tariffs on China will hit Nike hard and moving production to slave factories in NK will help some but not enough.
Nike is responding to its Chinese masters,
See, the ad is about truth to power, the truth that the brave QB sacrificed all for. All. More than those dead guys in Arlington cemetery, more than all those atoms exploded on a field in Pennsylvania. All. He sacrificed all.
Matt
White men buy stocks and bonds.
I agree with Michael K about Secretariat in the equine division. As far as humanity, reading today that Wilma Rudolph won her third Olympic gold medal today in 1960. You'd have to go a long way to beat the story of a poor young Black Southern woman growing up in the 50's who struggled through polio and scarlet fever to become the best woman sprinter in the world.
Kapeernick didn't sacrifice anything, he was going to cut for his poor play. He was dynamite for a couple years, until the defenses around the league figured out how to defend him. They forced him to stay in the pocket and just pass. Result: Poor QB.
Then he became a SJW - and started kneeling to protest something - which he's never been very clear about.
Notice how the Elite - love kapernick disrespecting the flag and country. Because they don't respect it either.
With this Nike ad, Weiden + Kennedy tried to re-create the power of The Richards Group' "God Made The Farmer" ad voiced by Paul Harvey. Colin just hasn't got the pipes - which is a fatal weakness - along with his inability to be a pocket passer.
As for Nike, they're a business that makes money by exploiting poor 3rd World workers.
They get away with it, by posing as the SJW Shoe Company.
Thanks to Professional lady who said at 7:23...
"Scappleface has a really funny bit about Nike." Scappleface.com has some funny stuff.
"Secretariat in the equine division"
Seattle Slew was better at soccer.
I agree the 'fro is distracting. But maybe they thought some humor was needed.
Kaepernick has always seemed dumb to me. Nothing wrong with having an IQ smaller than your passing completion percentage, but he just seems too dumb to lead a social cause. Corey Booker also seems dumb. Not as dumb as a Kaepernick, but for a sitting senator pretty damn dumb.
Ergo, I predict a Booker/Kaepernick ticket in 2020. Dumb and Dumber. Who knows, they could win .... Portland.
You people loved Kap when he was a big bible-banger... wha happened?
Nike's management's calculation is probably that the new ads bring in more customers likely to buy than they lose. I think they are wrong, and the mistake was made because someone in the chain of decision making wanted to insult certain deplorable people more than he/she wanted to make the company successful. I predict the ads are dropped completely within 6 months.
You people loved Kap when he was a big bible-banger
Somebody needs to introduce Howard to reality. His simply making up whatever he wishes were true is getting boring. Probably bad parenting.
"The greatest athlete ever was Secretariat.
No one else even comes close."
No. The greatest athlete ever is Michael Phelps. Twenty-nine Olympic God medals. Twenty-nine.
Our cat is a better athlete than anyone. 12 inches long, she has vertical leap of at least 24 inches and has caught house flies 3.5 feet off the ground from a standing start.
She has astounding Paw-eye coordination, and can move her lower body one way, while her upper body twists in the opposite direction.
And she always lands on her feet, and needless to say, is "quick as a cat".
Swimmers are not the Greatest athletes. They rack up large numbers of medals, because so many swimming events are similar. Running 100 yards is completely different than running 400 yards. But in swimming - not so much.
You can't talk about the best athlete ever without mentioning Jim Thorpe. Personally, the best athlete I ever saw was Bo Jackson.
Our cat is a better athlete than anyone.
She's just average--for a cat.
One of mine in the 80's jumped up to the fanlight above the front door from the floor. He would jump directly onto people's shoulders from the back until my brother scooted out of the way once.
It seems useful to flip this case over -
Who is endorsing who?
Nike is a huge brand, a status symbol, a “celebrity” in itself.
A much bigger celebrity, with more credibility than Kaepernick.
Nike is endorsing Kaepernick, or rather the political side he works for.
This is in fact a political campaign commercial.
Nike made a business decision. They decided to gamble away customers to maintain lucrative endorsement deals with black athletes who support the BLM kneelers
But go ahead and ascribe your emotional reaction like it's real and meaningful.
Buwaya is looking at it from the right perspective- Nike is endorsing Kaepernick, not vice versa. Will it pay off financially? Again, I doubt it- the Left is particularly tone deaf in this regard.
Running 100 yards is completely different than running 400 yards. But in swimming - not so much.
No. 100 yards is a sprint in swimming. You cannot sprint for 500 yards in swimming. (although what's his name from Georgia -- Grothe -- almost pulls it off.
Yes, there are few people who have ever competed at the high level of the sport in 100m and 400m swimming race, just like there are few runners who double in 100m and 400m sprints. The breakdowns are similar- 100 and 200 meter, and 400m and 800 m, though there are more of the latter bracket in swimming, at least on the female side.
Indeed, the only swimmer I can think of right now that won medals in both a 100 m race and 400 m race is Phelps, and if memory serves, his 400 m win was in the medley, not crawl or butterfly.
Kaep worked hard. Kurt Warner worked with him to improve his throwing technique to be quicker. Kaep has a great arm — threw the fastest ball at the combine — but has a long throwing motion. Tebow has a similar problem. These guys are elite athletes but it’s hard to change suboptimal technique in your 20s. They got away with bad mechanics when they were young. But the NFL is the best of the best.
No time for long motions in the NFL. Have to throw it hard and accurate quickly. Tom Brady and Brees and Rogers are brutally efficient. They have more time to read because they are quicker throwing the ball (and are very accurate).
Barry Bonds, even before steroids, developed an incredibly efficient swing. He was a good but not great hitter his first four years in the league as he developed. Kept getting better. Moving better. Bonds generated a lot of power but did it quickly. So he could wait longer before committing to the swing. Bonds 1993 season is among the greatest in baseball history. 5 years before he took steroids.
Kaepernick is an incredible athlete but couldn’t make the adjustments needed to play at a high level in the NFL. Same as RG 3 and Tebow and Manziel. These guys are way more athletic than Tom Brady. But Brady learned how to be incredibly efficient. He had too. He wasn’t as athletic as other guys.
But it’s good for Nike to promote guys like Kaep who worked very hard but came up short. That’s most people who ever played sports. There is only room for a handful at the top.
Human rights leaders stood against slavery. Civil rights leaders stood against diversity or color judgments. Stand up. Stand your ground.
The Trump economy is so good that even Kaepernick can get a job.
Nike is a brand name that happens to sell shoes.
Kaepernick has become a political player who used to play football.
Perhaps they're a good fit: Kaepernick's done pretty well at playing politics although he was never all that good at football. Nike's done pretty well at playing "brand name" even if there's nothing all that remarkable about their shoe products.
Nike and Kaepernick: a great team, for those who value politics over athletic excellence?
NFL ratings down eight percent from opening night last year. Down 25 percent from opening night 2016 when this bullshit started.
I cannot be made to care about Colin Kaepernick, Nike or the NFL. Let them continue to double down on stupid.
Best athlete? Tough to top Eric Heiden winning gold in the 500, 1000, 1500, 5000 and 10,000 at Lake Placid in 1980.
It was overshadowed by the Men's Hockey Team, but nobody's come close to what he did. In any sport.
shoes that you wear on your knees, by Nike.
win/win
I wear the best $20 shoes I can buy, Steel toe, obviously.
$300 Nikes have no appeal.
Trump is actually six-five, with the afro, six-nine.
Jim said, "I cannot be made to care about Colin Kaepernick, Nike or the NFL. Let them continue to double down on stupid."
Imagine that. Tuning into a pro football game to ponder the social injustice of being black in America. What on earth was Nike thinking?
The Trump parody is immensely better.
Dude was under contract for the following season. He chose to WALK AWAY from that contract. It was for like $10,000,000.00. Just sayin.
Post a Comment