Daniel Mason- Nike's "Just Do It" Consumer Revolution

Daniel Mason

Shopping Project - Nike

Nike’s advertising campaigns, specifically the Bo Jackson “Just Do It” ad and the Michael Jordan and Mars Blackmon ad, changed not only the sneaker market but advertising culture as a whole, through the use of celebrity, comedy, and above all else, a focus on brand and consumerist culture that was unprecedented in the world of sports. Within these ads, Nike transformed the definition of “sport” as a whole. Through the “coolness” exuded by their ads, Nike made exercising and sports sexy, while, at the same time, defining themselves as the keepers of this new found appeal. They turned their mass-produced sneakers, once simply an exercise necessity, into a luxury item that came, for the price of 80$, packaged with a little “cool” and an entirely new image, in addition to a great pair of shoes (CFAR 3). For the first time, conspicuous consumption transposed high fashion and made a startling appearance in the world of sneakers. Around these products, Nike marketing executives were able to develop an entire mass culture hell-bent on chasing down whatever “it” is that makes Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson so hip. Seemingly stripped of team affiliations and sport itself, these icons appear to fans, for the first time, in the same way as pop stars and musicians. Complete with startling imagery and personality, these legends leave consumers salivating over their skill, character, and swagger, offering a little piece of their “cool” for the right price and, in regards to purchases, urging consumers to “Just Do It”.

The most overarching theme in either ad is the aspect of celebrity endorsement. The use of celebrity in advertising has been a perpetually pervasive theme in society; however, its use on this scale in sports marketing is significantly more recent. Nike was one of the pioneers in this field, using celebrity influence, along with an air of confidence and comedy, to sell its products. Michael Jordan at the time was the first name on every list of important sports celebrities and considered a “super brand” himself (Klein 13). Through Jordan, in the first ad, Nike attempts to allude, by use of strategic irony, that the shoes are the reason for his success. Although Jordan continually denounces Mars Blackmon’s assertion with the calm, cool humility that’s enviable in contemporary society, it’s no accident that the Nike shoes are continually mentioned and made the focus of the camera. Being left out of the “in crowd” is a widespread fear in contemporary society and this dread is preyed upon by the advertising executives at Nike. No one wants to be Mars Blackmon, asking futilely,” What makes Michael Jordan the best player in the universe?” Each and every person watching the ad sees the humor but in Mar’s inquisition, however, also wants to know Jordan’s secret.

Likewise, the Bo Jackson ad retains similar humor and confidence, only inserting Bo Jackson for Michael Jordan. More so than in the first ad, the spotlight is taken off Bo Jackson’s team responsibility and accomplishments and, instead, is focused on his personality and on his Nike gear. Shown in the ad as a renaissance man of sports, Bo Jackson’s character shines through as an enviable trait, surpassed only by his athletic skill. The repetition of the phrase “nice shoes” continually brings the idea of shoes to the forefront of one’s mind, providing a direct correlation with the charismatic, athletic figure that deems the shoes worthy. Through the emphasis on the celebrity and the brand, Nike finds a formula for effectively taking sports stars off the field and using them, like pop and movie stars, as an identity and larger idea attainable through the purchase of a product.

Although athletic shoes were traditionally an item thought of as mere necessity, Nike was willing to try to change that reputation and turn their shoes into a “luxury” that people would want for status and not just need. Luxury is a term often synonymous with the opulent American society which we have studied in depth this semester. The Great Gatsby was a book brimming with consumerist culture, as exemplified in the passage where Jay Gatsby attempts to win Daisy over with his fine articles of clothing. “While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher—shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily. “They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before (Fitzgerald Chapter 5).” Obviously the natural desire of people is to want others to be Daisy to our Gatsby, in admiration of us for one reason or another. Until the 1980’s, this type of conspicuous consumption was limited to the aristocracy and available primarily through high fashion. The cultural revolution of the 1980’s, however, brought about a significant increase in prevalence of branding on clothing. The increase in size of logos on polo shirts paved the way for Nike to create sneakers that met the definition of a “luxury” purchase. Nike culture would become a self-fulfilling prophecy “If you want to be hip, wear Nike; if you are hip, you probably wear Nike (CFAR 2)”, with Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson (among others) as the high priests of “cool”.

The thought of sneakers as a fashion statement was, in fact, a huge gamble for the advertising people at Nike (CFAR 1). Following their own “Just Do It” mantra, as displayed at the end of the Bo Jackson ad, they took a risk that society would conform to their newly coined culture. Until the late 1980’s, sneakers had served the purpose of shoes to wear while exercising or playing sports, but, because of Nike’s fitness revolution, 80% of sneakers today are never used for their originally designated activity (CFAR 1). This is a remarkable number considering that Nike’s campaign and ideas originally were met with mixed reviews by critics, one critic even going so far as to refer to “Just Do It” as an “impatient-bordering-on-contemptuous exhortation to the masses (CFAR 2).” The ads were successful, though, in getting the American people to see exercise as a sexy and cool pursuit. Because Bo Jackson and Michael Jordan appeared cool and confident in the commercials wearing their Nike shoes, the average person wanted as close to that culture as money could buy.

Nike’s next step in a cultural take-over was to create an environment in which sneakers could exist as a high-style “luxury” purchase. The creation of this subculture was in part achieved by the submersion of the consumerist American youth into a world in which Nike was pervasive in everyday society. Americans could see Nike shoes on the feet of star athletes on the field, as well as in commercials and advertisements. Nike sneakers were also on the feet of prominent music artists, particularly in the “hip-hop” movement. Finally, even pop-culture icons on television and in movies wore strategically placed Nike’s in order to boost the brand’s appeal to young America. Will Smith wore Nike Air Jordan V’s in an episode of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air before the shoes were released, propelling them to immediate success despite their exorbitant pricing (nicekicks.com) This culture, spearheaded by the desire to blend in with society, proved to be a goldmine for Nike. The American youth became slaves to a certain form and, like in society today, had money to spend and very little which they needed to spend it on. Through the same formula by which great architectural and artistic pursuits were funded, commitment to form plus lots of excess money, a culture was erected from the inside by a youth determined to stay as cool as their trailblazing icons (Wolfe 2).

The sub-culture that developed under the calculated maneuvers of Nike developed into something significantly larger than anyone expected. It became the mass-culture phenomenon that blended corporations, athletes, and sport alike into one huge historically unrecognizable phenomenon. Nike ads moved away from having to talk up the brand and instead stressed the performance elements of Nike gear and it’s increasingly diverse base of sports celebrities. Michael Jordan appeared in later ads not as the super confident sports star of the late 1980’s, but instead as “CEO Jordan”, a humorous, yet increasingly real joke about the money involved in this mass culture enterprise. As is evident in both focus ads, Nike had successfully turned the focus on themselves and away from the team and the sports. By portraying Bo Jackson as an athlete, competing in a dozen different activities all while decked out in Nike gear, the corporation could transcend a single sport and instead place Nike at the paragon of the idea of sport itself (Klein 14). The very definition of sport had been changed as Nike attempted to swallow culture in giant gulps and erase the boundaries between the pure spirit of sports and the corporate sponsorship that followed ever closely behind (Klein 13).

While consumers worldwide are left chasing Nike’s “cool”, the corporation itself has been able to transcend sports, advertising, and even its own name. Recognizable as “the swoosh”, Nike has continued to build a battalion of celebrity athletes to further draw customers to its products. Because no one wants to be Mars Blackmon, left on the outside of an inner circle of athletic and social merit, consumers are willing to drop large sums of money for “the swoosh” itself. Although we know even Bo Jackson isn’t really looking for the Tour de France, we still recognize his greatness and are led to believe, through sparkling imagery and a larger-than-life personality, that we can be as great as the men we see wearing Nike sneakers on television. A pair of the Nike Air Jordan 1’s is for sale on eBay right now for the But It Now price of $4,999.99, proving that Nike has become a cultural icon, featuring a product obviously selling for much higher than the intrinsic value because of the value of the logo in the culture within which it is submerged (eBay). While every consumer has always envied the personality and athletic prowess of their favorite cultural and sports icons, Nike pioneered the harnessing, packaging, and marketing of “cool”, in a box with a pair of over-priced sneakers, altogether providing mass society with a commercial revolution, a pass to the “in-crowd”, and a little insight into what Mars Blackmon might never know.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F S. The Great Gatsby. Ebooks@Adelaide.Com, 2007. The Great Gatsby. 23 Apr. 2008 .

"Fresh Prince Wearing Air Jordan V Grapes." Nice Kicks. 2008. 22 Apr. 2008 .

Klein, Naomi. "The Brand Expands." Chapter 2: How the Logo Grabbed Center Stage. 21 Apr. 2008.

Mini Case Study- Nike's "Just Do It" Advertising Campaign. CFAR. Cambridge, MA: Center for Applied Research. 22 Apr. 2008.

"NIKE AIR JORDAN 1 OG 1985 3 4 5 What the Dunk Sb DS 10." EBay. 2008. 23 Apr. 2008

Wolfe, Tom. "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby." Chapter 6. 23 Apr. 2008.