Nike Does their Part

By Justin Baldonado Class-Kin 338I Section 48 Tu,Th 9:30-10:45

As I was doing research for the awareness assignment on Nike, I came across an interesting article from USA Today involving Serena Williams called “Nike Serves up New Ads Supporting Women”. As most people know, Nike endorses strong elite athletes who are seen and idolized by people around the world. Serena Williams is a dominating and talented tennis athlete who is not drawn by attention for her skills but also for her looks. So I did a critique research in how Nike handles their female athletes since most females are sexually objectified in the media. Surprisingly, Nike is not only well known for handling their products with genuine taste and not so sexually discomforting, but they are also aware of the many unequal opportunities for young girls and women in sports activities. Nike created an ad campaign with Serena Williams wearing a t-shirt that says athlete and on the bottom also saying, “Are you looking at my titles?” This signifies of the hard work of Serena Williams and also of the ignorance and inequality that many women suffer from sport activities. Serena Williams supported this campaign freely by her own choice in order to be a great supporter and influence on young girls. I thought it was a great motivational message from Nike in representing a woman who won at least eight grand slam titles. Not only did Nike use this ad campaign to create a motivational influence for women in sports, but also donated one dollar for every T-shirt or bracelet that was sold to their fund. This fund was donated to college and recreational facilities for women to have equipment and supplies in their sports. I used to think Nike was all about the money and their athletes, but they do take part in helping and aiding for those that are in need of help and support.