LeBron, Nike, and advertising

Nike has been making brilliant, artistic, and sometimes controversial ads since I was born.

They continuously put a large amount of originality and production value into all of their spots.

LeBron James' new Nike commercial is no different.

The fallout, from LeBron's "decision" this summer, has not been good, so of course Nike had to come up with something clever to "repair" his image. I guess you could call this apologizing by saying "eff you if you don't like me."

Great ad though. I love how LeBron takes some shots at some of Nike's biggest guns i.e. Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan.



And if you're not familiar with some of Nike's past ads here's a taste.

From the "My better is better than your better." series.

Nike Football's "Fate" ad, directed by David Fincher...yes the dude who just directed The Social Network, and previously Fight Club.

Nike's "Courage" commercial, right before the '08 Olympics. Gives me chills every time.

The Air Jordan XXI commercial. It features a bunch of people, everywhere, imitating all of Jordan's most famous moves, showing just how iconic these moments have become. Seriously, this may be the best TV ad ever.

Also here's a vid of the ad, juxtaposed to the real thing.


There's a whole bunch of reasons whey these are all so brilliant, but the common thread is that they appeal to everybody. Nike is pretty crafty in appealing to the child, the primal instinct, the woman, the man, the competitor in us all. They work so well, because they make the athletes us, and us the athletes.

Helluva way to sell some sneakers right?