On that Nike epic Olympics ad (no, the other one!)

Have you ever seen an ad that stuck in your memory though it is old. Quite old. As in 1996 old? You know that Nike issued an Olympics ad for the Paris Olympics (here). Say whatever you want, it left me completely cold. But if there is an ad for Nike that stuck with me, it is the Atlanta 1996 ad for introducing the zoom technology. The ad was - wait for it - 4 double pages of centerfold. The copy was both, haphazard, and epic. You had the self-depreciation (who the hell does Nike think they are?), the in-your-face (if you can't stand the heat, get out of Atlanta), the provocation (we don't sell dreams. we sell shoes.), and the bored-to-death-anti-ad-consumer (don't insult our intelligence. Tell us what it is, tell us what does, and don't play the national anthem while you do it.) And that was just the hors d'oeuvre for the rest of the ad, which explains zoom (and doesn't play the national anthem while it does it), but also does it in a collage art direction which takes you several places mentally at once.

Pity the whole world has gone let's-do-something-that-people-would-see-on-youtube instead of something as wonderful as this. Oh and that man vomiting? He ended up becoming a doctor (here). 

Tiffany & Co teams up with Nike for a cringe collaboration

I have spoken about the new Tiffany & Co before (here).

The good news? Post LVMH acquisition Tiffany & Co saw its valuation climb by a billion, the bad news? The Tiffany and Nike collab - you never knew you needed and judging by the photos you certainly did not want.

"Cringe" has a new lower bar. There, I said it.

OK, Dior did an Air Jordan, and Louis Vuitton shattered auction records with their Nike (late) Virgil Abloh collabs, and luxury brands are going full ape for collabs with sports brands. So it's nothing new.

But honestly, as they say in French - "tout ca pour ca" (all this for this).

In the photos above basketball superstar LeBron James is seen wearing the shoes, and what seems to be a jacket (still no word is this is a limited offering for friends and family, or one-off, or something Kanye West might have "designed" so much it is - to go back to the word again - cringe).

Now the shoes. Yes, what about the shoes? Nothing to write home about yet here I am writing a full blog post about them. Seriously, if this is what they were able to come up with, I honestly wonder why bother inject the effort. Truth be told I am wondering if any effort at all was injected in this.

When Fendi did their baguette with Tiffany, they came up with something truly beyond. But then Nike is certainly not Fendi. And now I am wondering if Tiffany is Tiffany. But hey, they said it themselves "not your mother's Tiffany", it's your LeBron James' Tiffany. 

Heaven help us.

Kylie Jenner, her son, and branding

Aire Scott - Artwork by Tarek Chemaly

"Nike" -well, when the brand really started getting momentum in the market in Lebanon in the 80s people would always eyeroll. In case you don't know it, nike is slang for "screw" - you know, the sexual act not the tool (sorry, no pun). Siri means penis in Georgian and Lumia is slang for prostitute in Spanish and the list goes on. 

Which brings us to Kylie Jenner and her son (from rapper Travis Scott), when the baby arrived it was called "Wolf" - except that the parents decided it was not a fitting name for the boy. After a long debacle the parents decided the boy's name - and it was revealed with his face only very lately - is "Aire". The issue? 

If Nike was not enough, Nike Air was a literal double whammy. "Nike" - I already explained what it was, "Air" well this is what you do the nike with... So the poor boy - and I mean the Jenner/Scott offspring - has a very strange name in Arabic. Not to pick on the boy or harass him or what not but seriously....

My heart goes to all the Arabic news anchors who had to talk about former prime minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault. Because in slang his family name literally means "his tool".

All this reminds me of French author Marcel Pagnol - in his lovely "la gloire de mon pere" (my father's glory) - he tells the story of how his aunt Rose forced her husband to be called "Jules" rather than his original name "Thomas" because she heard that in the countryside people called Thomas their chamber pot, not knowing that Jules is an even more widely adopted euphemism for the same object.

So if Wolf did not work, and Aire did not, I wonder what the boy's third iteration will be.

Nike - "sport is never done". But does it speak Arabic?

Nike has got a new film out (here)

One for the region, yet one not from the region.

Let me explain, yes the film was shot in the Arab region, yes it supposedly talks on behalf of the region's kids to the parents in question, and yes it dispels the idea that sports are a waste of time. But for the life of me as a copywriter I am ready to bet that the ad was written in a different language then transcribed to Arabic. Whomever wrote it is not an Arab native.

All the expressions used have a whiff of foreignness to them. "Head in the cloud" "if my friends jump, I jump" "hanging with the wrong crowd" etc... This is not how Arab parents speak to their sons or daughters. Compare this to the brilliant "what will they say about you?" which seems much more to be talking "Arabic", the way it is talked (or thought of) regionally.

Do note, in a region where obesity levels are obscene, where the ability to move is incredibly restricted due to weather, soaring temperatures and yes, social norms, "sport is never done" is a good message to spread. So for this alone, extra marks for Nike.

Jaune, the one word advertising

Jaune... That's yellow in French. Well, I was asked about this on twitter lately. Does a logo on an ad without anything else work? My answer was simple - "it made you look". OK, let's say the market is not drowning in Christmas ads yet (and I suspect it will not), but still, Jaune made a splash with its yellow billboards (not many of them mind you, but they do make you notice). Actually, my full answer was, "when Nike launched the zoom model along with the Atlanta 1996 Olympic games, their line was "tell us what it is, tell us what it does, and don't play the national anthem while you do it". And Jaune did exactly that, with just one word". Sometimes less is indeed more.

Nike and that opportunistic pregnant women ad

Is the new Nike ad about pregnant athletes great?

Yes.

Does it feature pregnant and lactating athletes?

It does.

Is is opportunistic?

Like hell it is.

Why?

Hear me out.

Ever heard of Olympians Alysia Montano and Kara Gouche?

Well, their contract with Nike did not include protections as to their pregnancies and new mothers role.

You might enjoy this Op-Ed in the New York Times. In short - Nike is redeeming itself because people either do not know the story, or have short memories, or like their brands on the right side of history (here's looking at you Kaepernik, LGBT, Women, etc...).

And so here we are, the ad is good. But honestly, too ethically low following the initial backlash.

One Act, normal humans at their best

Why is it some things work, others not? Take One Act - they define themselves as:

"Let's take the time to thank the unsung heroes of Lebanon whose #OneAct has made a huge difference during these challenging times. Let's make sure that their kindness doesn't go unnoticed. Whether it is supporting people during the economic crisis, helping through COVID-19 or providing relief after the explosion, the ordinary people of Lebanon are taking action every day to help the country back on its feet." Apparently they are an offshoot of Search For Common Ground (An NGO working to end the violent conflict in Lebanon through conflict transformation. It’s our purpose — our call to action.)

The One Act ad left me gasping for breath (see here), just normal people talking about other normal people who stepped up to the plate and rose up to their human values. Humans helping humans in their time of need specifically after the August 4 Beirut explosion, without fanfare, without overdoing things. Or to go back to the Atlanta Games Nike Air zoom launch ad: "tell us what us, tell uh s what it does, and don't play the national anthem while you do it" - except what these people did, was heart-wrenching.

#YouCantStopUs - Nike

Brilliant and heart-stopping ad by Nike. Watch here.

Let me first say it's been done before. The mix and match technique of two images. But Nike does it brilliantly and perfectly, the way images go from one shot to the next is impeccable. The copy, said in a natter of fact way only makes it better, straight to the point, and completely credible. The film goes from pro. To amateur, to invented and new lockdown ready sports, and makes them all worthwhile, and whereas tailored to the American market, it can easily resonate worldwide. You can't stop sport #YouCantStopUs indeed.

Nike and Adidas: Ugly stepsisters dressed as Cinderella

Source

OK - Nike went on the offensive with "for once don't do it" in the light of George Floyd's death/murder, and Adidas (pardon the pun) took the ball rolling and retweeted them. 

This is what Nike said: "For once, don’t do it, don’t pretend there’s no problem in America. Don’t turn your back on racism. Do not accept that innocent lives are taken from us. Don’t use any other excuses. Don’t think this isn’t about you. Don’t sit silent. We are all part of the change."

Just to put things into context, both Nike and Adidas have young, racially diversified customer bases who demand their brands take a stand (a stand which compatible with their values - even if their values tend to go towards passive slacktivism - note: Uber saw no decrease of its young users following its ethical scandals).

Well, bravo for Nike and Adidas for hijacking the conversation, but let's be honest here: That was opportunism at its best. Well, they know their audience, they know their audience is watching their reaction, they know what is expected of them - and hey let's dip this in our legendary "just do it" slogan. And Adidas? That was a stroke of genius to relay their eternal arch-nemesis and make it look like "let's put our differences behind us as brands and competitors because together is the way forward. Together is the way to change” - ah oops "together is the way forward. Together is the way to change" are the exact words used by Adidas in their retweet.

This sent both - the Nike and the Adidas fans into a frenzy.

These fans are young and racially diverse as I told you, and they tend to be customers to brands that mirror their values. See how evil the Nike-Adidas genius is? The two evil stepsisters dressed up as Cinderella waiting for the prince and his sneaker!