11-13-19
“Dream Crazier” by Nike, a campaign founded in exposing the injustices women athletes face, for what they are in order to promote equal opportunity and recognition. It pictures remarkable accomplishments of female athletes, emotional music and footage, and a motivational voice over featuring Serena Williams. The emotional connection to the women and sentiment in the commercial elicit action, acceptance, and respect for these athletes, as well as encourages girls to “Dream Crazier” and reach their goals. As a girl who faced similar backlash when growing up, preventing me from playing football like my male friends, this piece was very moving. I don’t think it drives girls to achieve their dreams as much as it shows that women deserve the chance to prove themselves. They have been breaking boundaries and rules like these for generations without an invitation. The problem lies in societies view of female athletes not how the girls feel about their own abilities. It encouraged me to write this post, so I’d say it was fairly persuasive. That all said, if I saw this commercial at the age of 12, I definitely wouldn’t have taken the no from my parents and the administration at my school at face value. Women have been misrepresented, underpaid, and objectified in athletics since the start of gender parity in sports. This comes from the assumption that women aren’t strong, capable, smart, or talented enough to perform at the same level as men. Female athletes are capable of the same feats as men, and Nike knows this is a fantastic way to market their athletic gear as well as support the cause. Maybe soon we won’t need this kind of propaganda anymore; currently, however, that is a crazy dream indeed.
prop·a·gan·da
/ˌpräpəˈɡandə/
noun
An effort to promote a biased or opinionated view on an issue or thing in order to elicit action of some sort by the audience for their cause.
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Julia Manipella
