This has to be one of my favorite advertisements of all time - Nike always has some of the best ads in the business and I love their inspirational message.
The commercial begins with medical documents being signed; they look like some kind of release forms and the word "hemmorage" is clearly visible. The silence conveys a sombre mood. A woman wakes up and sad piano music starts to play as she gets in her taxi and goes to the doctor to prepare for her surgery. With a marker he goes over every "imperfect" part of her body and outlines the flaws: cellulite, curves, extra fat. It is obvious from her expression that the woman feels uncomfortable in her little hospital gown. As she is being prepped for surgery in the OR there is recurring, disturbing imagery of a machine slicing ham. The woman looks around at those about to cut her open and jumps off the operating table as an energetic Latin beat starts to play. She dances down the hallways and is joined by a group of women; they shed their hospital gowns and put on their Nike workout clothes to dance their way out of the plastic surgeon's office.
For those that can understand the lyrics, they contribute a great deal to the message of the advertisement. My guess is that the song was written for the Nike ad, it just fits too well. Basically the song's lyrics are about the desire for a better body without wanting to "plastify" oneself: I don't want to diet, I don't want surgery, we are women and we should move, your knife won't go anywhere near me, move, dance, sweat it out if you want to be hot.
There is no mention of the clothing itself, its features or its look. The point of the advertisement is to promote a healthier body image - you don't need plastic surgery to be sexy, if you want to improve your body, then just move it. Sure, this message conveniently plays into the company's best interests (if women are going to move, then they need workout clothes to move in) but I think this advertisement really speaks to women in the sense that it perfectly expresses female insecurities and responds to them by sending an empowering message.
The commercial ends with an image of the plastic surgeon's marker melting away in sweat with the tagline "body by dance" and the company logo for anchoring. Very effective if you ask me - after watching the ad I feel inspired and energized to go sweat it out at the gym.
This next ad is for my favorite Canadian brand - lululemon!
This ad is simple and effective - a black and white video of an aerial dancer working on the ribbons wearing lululemon gear. Her dancing is beautiful and she looks comfortable thanks to the easy movement of the lululemon clothing. This ad has more of a focus on the actual product but there is no hard selling, no voiceover and no endorsements. It ends in a similar way with the company logo for anchoring but no tagline, as if the company wants to say that the clothing should speak for itself. Basically they are sending the message that if this acrobat can perform these crazy movements in a lululemon outfit, then you can do anything too, and you'll still be comfortable. I think it is effective - this ad makes me want to put on my yoga pants and have a good stretch.
What I love most about both of these ads is that they feature strong, beautiful women who are proud of their bodies even though they may have more muscle or cellulite than the feminine ideal we usually see in the media. They promote fitness and positive body images - instead of showing us a woman we can't relate to who makes us feel bad about ourselves, they present an image that women would rather aspire to. I think this method of selling to women works far better as I eventually get resentful of the skeleton-like 15-year-olds in magazines, but these strong, happy, and healthy women inspire me instead of depressing me.
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