Nike Celebrates Women in Sports With First Super Bowl Ad in Almost 30 Years
Nike, Inc. is back on the Super Bowl screen after a 27-year hiatus, but rather than continue to air the “You Can’t Ban Greatness” Jordan Brand commercial which was previewed on Christmas Day before the full version debuted during the Grammy Awards, the Beaverton, Ore.-based sportswear company is taking a new approach Sunday.
Instead of reigniting a perpetually hot label in Jordan Brand, Nike is looking to the prevailing trend of the present — and the future — with a timely celebration of female athletes. The new clip is highlighted by WNBA stars Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu along with Olympic gold medalist gymnast Jordan Chiles, track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson and current world No. 1 tennis pro Aryna Sabalenka.
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First reported by The Wall Street Journal, Nike’s first Super Bowl spot in nearly three decades was created by Portland advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, which has produced some of the brand’s most memorable ads. Clocking in at 90 seconds, the clip is three-times as long as normal Super Bowl commercials. The clip is set to Led Zeppelin’s 1969 single “Whole Lotta Love” and is narrated by Grammy-winning rapper Doechii.
“You can’t make demands,” Doechii says in the video. “You can’t be proud. You can’t keep score. You can’t stand out…Whatever you do, you can’t win. So Win.”
The ad, dubbed “So Win,” is accompanied by the launch of a new Nike T-shirt. The “So Win” Just Do It T-Shirt features Clark, Wilson, Ionescu, Chiles, Richardson and Sabalenka, along with college basketball stars Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins and soccer pros Alexia Putellas and Sophia Wilson.
Priced at $45, the multi-star shirt is available now from nike.com. Additional T-shirts featuring Clark, Ionescu and Wilson individually have also been revealed and are advertised as “coming soon.” T-shirts picturing the remaining athletes will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
“Women’s sport isn’t the future, it’s right now,” Ionescu said in a press release. “We’re seeing it in packed arenas, in TV ratings, in the way people are showing up for the game like never before. Commanding attention isn’t about being the loudest in the room. It’s about making sure that when you step up, everyone takes notice.”
While Nike has aired ads in various capacities during sporting events over the years, the company’s last Super Bowl commercial aired all the way back in 1998. That clip featured athletes including NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson, WNBA Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie and Olympic runners Michael Johnson and Suzy Hamilton. The 60-second spot featured the athletes seemingly in the nude — an aspect which caused NBC to request camera adjustments be made.
Nicole Hubbard Graham, chief marketing officer at Nike, told The Wall Street Journal that the brand is looking to “get back to athletes over algorithms,” hinting at an increased focus on sport instead of performance marketing — something newly appointed Nike CEO Elliott Hill has also suggested.
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