#4
The following advert is the advert used by Nike during the 2007 NFL (National Football League). It features NFL players Shawne Merriman and Steve Jackson. The advert really consists of these two players running from one side of the pitch to the other trying to score. However there is much more to that in this 1 minute commercial. The advert starts with what seems to be a team call, to take the ball off the opposing team. The camera focuses on Shawne Merriman as he runs through the pitch, sprinting, knocking people down, performing crazy jumps, ducking down. He even runs while it snows. As he gets to the end of the pitch, Steve Jackson takes the ball and starts running towards the other end of the pitch, becoming a brutal and unstoppable force as he is able to knock people down and carry the ball at the same time. Towards the end it can be seen how he dodges other opposing players and as he is about to reach the final line, he is surrounded by 5 opposing players trying to stop him. the action finishes without letting the viewer know whether or not he managed to make it or not. The advert ends with the words “Leave Nothing”, followed by nikefootball.com along with Nikes logo. This advert is layed out in such a way that it gives the brand Nike a set of attributes. There are very many clear connotations in this advert. The music that is on during the whole advert is “The Last of the Mohicans – Promentory”. This song is purely instrumental and has very strong warrior like connotations. The music itself is used to represent a battle in the movie “The last of the Mohicans” as well as in this advert. Having star athletes take part in this advert is another effort of Nike to give its brand a touch of uniqueness and excellence. During the ad, one can see these two athletes, jump, sprint, tackle. The myth of this advert is the fact that it is representing key attributes that an athlete should have; endurance, strength, passion, power, fitness, agility, perseverance, ability to work in a team, calmness under pressure, willingness to go the extra mile, vision, etc. The aim of Nike is to have these attributes displayed in the advert linked with its brand. At the end of the advert we see the words “Leave Nothing.” these two words have great symbolism. It enhances the warrior like image Nike gives itself as well as giving the ad a greater meaning. The Nike logo also makes an appearance at the end. Nikes logo being a tick, gives the brand an image of “the right thing”. This logo is particularly powerful because the tick is used throughout many cultures to determine that something is correct.