Nike and Inclusion

There’s already been enough said about Nike’s new ad campaign to fill volumes, but I wanted to quickly add my perspective.

I’ve seen both the print ads and the new commercial and I have to say I was impressed. The print ad offers a great slogan and message, which is what Nike is sort of known for. The commercial though, to me, was something else. The focus on including people of all different backgrounds is always good to see, but what really caught my eye was the way people with disabilities were portrayed.

Often, (at least to me) ad campaigns spotlighting athletes with disabilities seem to go the sappy, inspiration porn, “Hey, these people are getting out and doing things, isn’t that fun and wonderful?!” route (read this with a sarcastic tone for full effect, please/thank you). Nike’s new commercial shows these individuals, to use the company’s own phrasing, just doing it. And looking pretty cool too. I mean, if you haven’t seen it yet, watch for the bad-ass little wrestler and you’ll see what I mean!

I’m sure Nike could have picked a slightly less-controversial spokesperson than Colin Kaepernick, but they had their reasons and we shouldn’t let people’s Twitter tantrums or videos of burning Nike merchandise distract from what is a truly good, inclusive ad that, in my opinion, is the kind of thing we need right now.

Cheers!