SPORTS knows no boundaries. Neither gender, nor age, nor race, nor status can define who can become an athlete.
A new campaign by Nike celebrates its unifying, hopeful power, and how sports can inspire all of us.
Released just this morning in time for the NBA's restart, the shoe giant's “You Can’t Stop Us” advertisement proved that as long you have a body, you are an athlete.
Over 72 different sports moments from LeBron James, Serena Williams, Eliud Kipchoge, Naomi Osaka, Tiger Woods, Cristiano Ronaldo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Colin Kaepernick, and many more were spliced together in a split-screen advertisement where one moment blended into the next.
According to a statement released by Nike, the ad was assembled from over 4,000 pieces of footage.
It was put together by ad agency Wieden + Kennedy Portland, and voiced over by US national women's soccer team star Megan Rapinoe.
Around the globe, sports leagues are only slowly coming back after months of quarantine. The athletic brand's new campaign doesn't shy away from how the pandemic and recent racial tensions have affected athletes.
But towards the end, the video offered hope, highlighting the sports community’s call to action to come together for change.
As Rapinoe says in the ad: “We know things won’t always go on our way, but whatever it is we’ll find a way. And when things aren’t fair, we’ll come together for change. And no matter how bad it gets, we will always come back stronger because nothing can stop what we can do together.”
This ad is the third part of the brand's "You Can't Stop Us" series, begun by Nike when the COVID-19 virus began to sweep the globe. They began with “Play Inside, Play for the World” in March, then followed it up with “Never Too Far Down” in April.
This latest ad, however, takes the spotlight for its outstanding editing and storytelling.
As of posting, the video has garnered 5.8 million views on YouTube. On Instagram, it's amassed 1.4 million views.
In the video description in its YouTube channel, Nike wrote: “Our mission is what drives us to do everything possible to expand human potential. We do that by creating groundbreaking sport innovations, by making our products more sustainably, by building a creative and diverse global team and by making a positive impact in communities where we live and work."
Athletes around the world have taken to social media to talk about the campaign.
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