Nike Aint Right
There is growing controversy over Nike’s new Hyperdunk shoe ads, and the reasoning given by some of the ad’s supporters has spin written all over it. The large, outdoor, billboard-style advertisement are supposed to make you want to buy their new shoes. The shoes looks pretty fly, that is if you notice them once you peel your eyes off a player getting a face full of an opposing player’s genitalia. Surprisingly some of the most vocal outcry against Nike’s “junk dunk” placement has been people who are usually on the cutting edge when it comes to forward thinking in advertising… advertising professionals themselves. Accusations ranging from homophobia, to racism, to the glorification of street-thug masculinity have been hurled at Nike’s agency, Wieden + Kennedy. They have replied with a curt and glib, “Get over it”.
They posture these ads were meant for an audience that has street sense and can see the humor in them. Their intended audience is one who knows reputations are made and lost on the court. I think that is a stretch on the part of the agency. These ads, placed in a public setting, visible to entire communities (one is in Greenwich Village, no diversity there) are not only offensive, but also help to reinforce stereotypes which people have fought years to overcome.
The agency spins the reaction of the public as people being hyper sensitive over nothing. Well, if it truly is “nothing” then why this image? Thy the massive “That Aint Right” in the background? They knew exactly what they were doing and some might say, got the result they wanted.
I am the first to defend creative ads, and love when copy is used to turn a reader into a customer. However i do draw the line when the ad in question is purposely designed to reinforce stereotypes and then tries to play the innocent card. Weiden + Kennedy should up to it, it might just give THEM more street cred.
