Nike Advert

This advert featuring professional American basketball star of the Lakers, Kobe ‘white hot’ Bryant is striking in many ways. Bryant is Americans top basketball player of all time, countless NBA records and achievements and therefore not only an athlete, but a star. The very fact that Kobe is branded on these American sneakers represents a high class shoe already without the knowledge that top sportswear brand Nike is the manufacture and code signer of these sneakers. Bryant challenges his audience not to ‘settle for the top’ but to push them further and take it ‘over the top’. The slogan accompanying the advert is ‘attack fast, attack strong’; representing the system which is essentially two different inserts which are supposed to help with either speed or performance. In the advert Bryant class are no normal group of people. They are essentially a handful of the successful and elite featuring top A list celebrities such as Kanye West, Serena Williams and Richard Branson. Yet none of these celebrities are pampered or treated highly, Bryant speaks to them sometimes even condescendingly.

Jess Bennett quoted – “it’s a delight to watch how over the top and ridiculous the ‘system’ is. It’s a form of Meta advertising, which proves successful because it grants the viewer a certain level of intelligence and understanding. Celebrities as real people? That’s great. Celebrities as real people and a sense of humour even better. Celebrities who engage in humorous self – deprecation best of all

In my opinion I believe that the celebrities in this advert is what makes the advert stand out and why it works so well. It’s entertaining and humorous yet has the underlying, message in every sentence, buy this product, it is the best. What’s better way to prove your point by suggesting that the elite group each on top of their own fortes believe too that this is the best product for skill and performance? Almost suggesting if you buy this shoe, you too could be on top with the rest of them. I think it’s a clever way to link everyone together and force the point that it’s not just for one person it’s for everyone.