Nike’s Inspiration
ByWhen looking at the Foundation for Better Life, I realized that their overall purpose was to inspire you. Immediately I thought of the Nike ads that show talented athletes. I think that even people who don’t consider themselves “sports fanatics” are inspired by many of their ads. I love this following ad showing Michael Jordan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-EMOb3ATJ0&feature=related
Or if you want to simply read the text of the ad:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
Or another great Nike ad with Michael Jordan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0d2Ep_y_tY&NR=1
I think the reason that I was so inspired by the ads was due to the simplicity of their message. So often people see only the negative things about themselves, and this ad is proclaiming that failing over and over again leads to success. I think they are trying to define that success is never giving up despite the circumstances. Also, I think most people think of Michael Jordan as one of the best, if not the best, basketball players to live. So if he is making mistakes in what he is best at, well I guess it okay if I am too.
Finally, I compared the Michael Jordan Nike ads to his Gatorade ads. I think Gatorade tried to create a similar message. Unlike Nike, I think Gatorade’s message was too complicated, and their message failed to inspire me like the Nike ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpfzaqIuR34 (Gatorade, is it in you?)
4 Comments
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Interesting. I’m not a basketball fan, so I’ve never really paid much attention to Michael Jordan’s performance. However, I do know that he’s respected as one of the best. I had no idea of all of his failures! It’s encouraging to see that he’s not afraid to admit his failures in an effort to inspire others. I agree with you, if Michael Jordan makes countless mistakes, I guess it’s okay for me to also! This is such a great way to stray from the norm and remind viewers that life isn’t always about success, it’s about learning from your failures. It’s about time someone was truthful.
February 3rd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Wow Abby, that is such an interesting topic. Its to ironic in our culture because it seems like we are raised believing that we have to be perfect. It’s not necessarily our parents telling us this, however a lot of times it comes from ourselves. Our quest for perfection can come from us competing with other people, wanting something someone else has and working hard for it, etc. It is great that a company took the I guess unhealthy view of perfection and twisted it around, saying that perfection is not the road to success. And for all those kids that look up to the famous basketball star, maybe like Caroline was saying it will speak truth.
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Inspiration is such a powerful force! I liked the ad. I also liked the way Abby described the ad and provided a link. I did not even have to see it to get the gist. Putting the ad into the post would be even more user friendly.
Ads that inspire us to be better than we are can make a big difference in the way we approach the world. Way to go Nike.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:13 pm
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