Analyzing Nike's Short Film 'Voices'

Introduction Nike released a new film entitled “Voices” to celebrate women in sport on the 40th anniversary of Title IX. The short film features four personal stories of some amazing female athletes, spanning three generations. The women include Joan Benoit Samuelson (legendary distance runner), Lisa Leslie (four-time gold medalist and WNBA pioneer), Marlen Esparza (USA Boxing’s 6-time national champion and member of the USA Women’s Boxing team) and Diana Taurasi (two-time gold medalist, guard for Phoenix Mercury and former WNBA MVP). “Voices” reveals some of the challenges these incredible athletes faced on their journeys to greatness. The film celebrates the passion, commitment and strength of female athletes everywhere. Young girls are

“Dad told me I couldn’t be a boxer, he said I was too small…There was a guy who tried to spit on me and then pushed me out of his way.” This ad uses language that is supposed to solicit both positive and negative reactions. The first few lines out of the mouths of these women capture your attention, it appeals to your emotions. The audience is supposed to feel upset or disappointed by these statements. The campaign serves the purpose to celebrate women and how far they have come. “I didn’t set out to dominate, I just did…Somebody has got to be the best. So why not me?” Further into the film these women and young girls convince you they aren’t allowing anyone to erase their dreams and tell them what girls can and cannot do. Athletes like the ones shown decided to make their own rules. The campaign was made to honor the anniversary of Title IX. The purpose of the message is to show these female athletes defied convention and the outcome should be one that informs you that it wasn’t done without struggle. The passing of Title IX in 1972 helped girls and women take great strides in participating in sports. It provided more opportunity to break the bounds of sports as a man’s domain. Even at a glance this advertisement is set up to catch your attention, it is visually appealing. The ad focuses directly on the women and young girls. There is no distance between the camera and the speakers, the audience is right

From the very beginning, it poses the women athletes in opposition to the social dominance of men. “Girls just didn’t run in public.” “Nobody on my all boys team would pass to me.” “Dad told me I couldn’t be a boxer; he told me I was too small.” The commercial aims to reflect back on scenarios from a culturally shared history of sexism in the U.S. The commercial presents itself as personifying the value of gender equality. In setting a context of gender inequality and discrimination, Nike Voices shares values through an experience, a shared emotion, and a sense of community. There is a strong story being told here of how these women endured in each of their journeys to overcome the hurdles of discrimination and gain self-esteem, legitimization. Their narratives tell how they chose to ignore the social and historical norms society adopted. The campaign strategizes that by portraying both woman athletes and little girls. It attempts to engage viewers by showing them that at a young age these now successful athletes were told they were “too small…too passionate…” But chose to keep winning and never quit. The message of not to limit themselves because of someone else’s stereotypical assumptions and views about