#1 - Lebron James Nike ad

Nike commercials and ads are mostly similar in every way. They have slight variations on the sport, the motto, and the famous athlete. However, they usually say about the same thing. In this advertisement, Nike features Lebron James, just as he is about to score a point. His face looks fierce and dedicated to the sport he loves. In the background, in a smaller font, you can see the words “You will notice. You will scream. Because you want it to happen.” What they assume you want to happen is Lebron James scoring a point in this game. To the right, in larger font, there are the words “WILL TO WIN.” In all capital letters, just to the right of this is Nike’s iconic symbol, an extended check mark.

                In this advertisement, the layout is very well done. They have Lebron James in midair, about to score a point. He looks incredibly determined, and as if this point will win a major game. Behind him are the stands in the arena. They are very dark, but you can tell there are a lot of people in them. This puts the focus on only Lebron James and his achievements.  By only focusing on Lebron James’s achievements, and having him in a Nike ad, the viewer assumes that Nike is the reason that Lebron James succeeded. They also may assume that if they use Nike products, they will achieve as well.

                Overall, I think that this ad is effective on the surface level but not on any sort of deeper level. They viewer of the ad wants to assume that by using Nike products, they will achieve, just like Lebron James. They also want to believe that using Nike products helped Lebron James and will therefore help them. However, if they were to think about those statements for more than 30 seconds, they would realize that Nike has nothing to do with Lebron James’s success. Yes, Lebron James is very successful and he uses Nike products. However, he is not successful because Nike sponsors him. Nike sponsors him because he is successful. If the viewer thought about this ad for more than just a flash through their mind, they would realize that the ad is trying to flip the conclusion and the support for their argument. Instead of saying that Nike sponsors Lebron James because he is successful on the basketball court, they are trying to make the viewer believe that Lebron James is successful on the basketball court because Nike sponsors him.

(4-28-13)