Nike ad features Paralympian
It hurts me a little bit to post this ad for discussion. I participated in protests at my university when the sports department contracted with Nike. I overcame my significant fear of public speaking to join with a local union and represent NOW to the Board of Regents. That was a decade ago and Nike still sucks.
But they do have this commercial (also embedded below) airing this weekend that will feature Paralympian basketball player Matt Scott. The news about the ad:
Nike's New Year television commercial will feature University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wheelchair basketball player Matt Scott.The brief description of the ad above is not bad. Scott is a large attractive black man wearing a black Nike shirt and a black knit cap. The ad is a full minute long and while he offers all the common and ridiculous excuses people give for not exercising, he bounces a basketball out of camera view. The camera moves and the shot is repeatedly edited so that his wheelchair does not show until the final image of him turning and wheeling from the gym.
Scott, a senior from Detroit, Mich., and a member of the U.S. Paralympic Basketball team, will appear in Nike's "No Excuses" commercial. The spot is the latest in the company's series of "Just Do It" ads.
Throughout the commercial, Scott bounces a basketball and takes shots at the hoop, while reciting a long list of excuses people use to avoid working out and staying in shape. The spot ends with Scott in his wheelchair, slamming down two basketballs simultaneously and saying the final excuse, "And my feet hurt." He then wheels out of the gymnasium.
The commercial will air on New Year's Eve on ESPN and MTV and on New Year's Day on FOX, ESPN, the NFL Network, BET, the Comedy Channel, FUSE, ABC Family and others.
"Overcoming a disability and striving for athletic excellence is certainly not for the weak," Scott said. "I am proud I was chosen to represent disabled athletes and show that we do not make excuses."
20 comments:
Hmm. Ambivalent. Mixed.
It feels like they are going for the effect of "OMG, well, if even this disabled guy can do it, I can certainly do it." That's bad. That's obnoxious. And that's annoying. And that seems to be the goal -- it links up with some of the things he is saying, too tired, too weak, etc.
That shock value effect is immediately contrasted by the angle at which the thing is shot. You can tell that he's a w/c user -- no one walks or runs with that kind of fluidity or swing -- particularly not when they are bouncing a ball. Plus, he's only in the bottom third of the screen. -- All this makes him look like a talking head -- a head that barely rises above the line beneath the windows (again, you know he's a chair user).
I'm unhappy with the image of him as a talking head. It seems to suggest that they don't want to use the picture of a disabled body or chair as part of the normality of the ad -- and they can't because the ad depends on the shock value of this guy in a chair at the end.
And I am also unhappy because if we have to say something like, "well, ok, they only score 5/10 for positive cripness, but at least they used a disabled person", that's not enough.
You can't keep using weak tired cliches and hope that the message will change simply because the person speaking it is disabled.
Mmm.
WCD
I have to echo the "hmmmmm." I think the average person would suspect something, but not necessarily that he's in a wheelchair. There are enough mid-distance shots of him from the waist up with his shoulders back, etc. to help difuse some of that.
It's a powerful commercial. They get their money's worth out of it. And I can understand why Scott is pleased with it. Not only is he "not weak," but he's also shown as articulate, witty, and physically powerful.
Despite these positive things, the whole use of the shock value bothers me as well.
I don't want shock value to be the primary interaction between the disabled and the world in popular culture. Bad idea. Long history of bad outcomes from this idea. Too much history of the "freak show" attached to the use of the disabled for "shock value."
I'm not sure what type of commercial which includes people with disabilities would actually please me, but I am sure that this isn't it.
--Shelob
I hate the shock value aspect of this. I'm having the same internal negative reaction I used to when people would watch us play wheelchair tennis and say "Oh I forgot you were all in wheelchairs because you're so good!"It's not allowing us to be real - who we are. In wheelchairs.
Yep, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was disappointed. I want to see the guy play some ball, move around and show his grace and skill, which are the characteristics that made him eligible for a Nike ad campaign in the first place.
The shock value thing is always depressing. Woo! Surprise! I'm not what you expected. I'm all the good things you were thinking but ALSO use a wheelchair. GOTCHA!
I suppose we just aren't at that point yet where the identity doesn't matter. We still need giant alarm bells around the stigma before we can suggest looking beyond the stigma. Boo to that.
I think the ad is great and reaches persons with and without disabilities -- I think the director of the ad is creative in the way that he features the athlete -- I'm not sure that there is any shock value -- he just wanted to highlight Matt in a unique way -- I think there is a powerful message that athletes with and without disabilities can be motivational role models -- this is how I understood and interpreted the ad --
Eli A. Wolff
Center for the Study of Sport in Society
Well, to me there's a different aspect to this that's hugely problematic. "Excuses for being lazy and not working out"? How many of us disabled people (whether we have physical or mental, visible or invisible impairments) have been called "lazy", accused of "making excuses", "whining", being "weak" or "lacking willpower", "not trying hard enough"?
This seems like a message of Health = Physical Exercise = A Good In Itself (and there's no excuse, social or medical, for not doing/having it). Regardless of whether you are in pain, you have phobias or anxiety issues, you don't have access to exercise facilities, you don't have enough free time, or you just have different priorities - for example, you might get a tiny bit physically healthier if you spent an hour every day exercising, but you want to spend that hour reading to increase your knowledge and understanding, or cooking so that you eat decent food, or spending time with friends and emotionally supporting people you care about, or blogging, or doing some lobbying or activism, or whatever.
This seems like ableism by the back door here, as does the concept of competitive disability sport in general - disabled people effectively being valued by how good they are at doing physical tasks, how much like a non-disabled person they can be. It also creates a stereotype that all disabled people are capable of great sporting feats and that, if you're not, you're just "weak" and "lazy" and you should be more like that Inspirational Supercrip over there.
I've got plenty more to say about sport and the exercise/health as moral good mentality and how they oppress disabled people IMO, but i think i'll write a proper post about it at my blog soon-ish...
(I also think this is arguably a male version of those disability beauty pageants, where the value of physical attractiveness for females is replaced by that of physical ability/"fitness" for males - a possibly overlooked aspect of body-image objectification?)
That seems so exploitative and crappy. It totally leaves the watcher with the whole "wow, how INSPIRATIONAL" theme reinforced about disabled people. Ooh, how edgy. Ugh.
Its amazing that as people with disabilites that we cant even support something as positive as this. An individual with a disability being portrayed as the quintessential athelete. Your bitterness about the topic is unbelievable. I thought it was a great universal message. what a shame that we have to scrape the barrell to find negatives in this
"Unbelievable"? No. Our reactions are as complex as our experiences and our thinking about them.
Shiva, I'll be interested to read your take on sport and exercise as a moral good. It is a complex issue, with or without adding the disability / ablism factors.
I may be blind, but I ain't Helen Keller and I'm not Daredevil either, and as a matter of fact, most of the more inconvienient aspects of Keller's activism get left out of the popular notions of who she was.
That's not bitterness, that's just a recognition that people are more complex than a single aspect of themselves. And it's also a recognition of the fact that those without disablities already have a profound tendancy to view those with disabilities as having only one or two dimensions. The tendancy also exists to view us only as something to react to or reflect on themselves about.
How many people viewing that commercial will actually see him as a role model? How many will see him as a whole person? And how many will see him as a one dimensional symbol that then causes them to focus back on themselves again?
Most will feel "inspired" without really having any understanding of the man, the role sport plays in his life (the complex version, not the 3 second sound bite) or the intersections that he experiences between sport and his disability. Or they might take away a feeling of guilt and the urge to do more themselves -- a complex version of trying to avoid the "evil eye" by doing everything right so they will never be disabled.
I can't ignore the fact that this is a campaign to sell more shoes, jackets, and other products. This isn't a public service announcement encouraging people to live their lives in as healthy a manner as they can. This isn't a "message" with the sole intent of being inspiring. It's a bid to sell a product. I accept that, and don't begrudge the company the right to advertise. But the way they've chosen to highlight the accomplishments of this man, the focus on his disability as a shock/guilt element in the "story" being told by the commercial, is problematic in the extreme.
They could have done so many other things that would have be a move AWAY from viewing the disabled as saintly and inspirational or guilt inducing and the result of evil. But instead, they chose a portrayal that reinforces these old ways of interacting with disability and the disabled. THAT, I object to. And that's not bitterness, that's a recognition that if we want the general ineractions to change, we have to challange the way we are portrayed and what those portrayals are used for.
--Shelob
I thought you all might be interested in these articles :
UW Whitewater Athlete To Be Featured In New Nike Ad
http://www.channel3000.com/health/14949361/detail.html
Wheelchair basketball player promotes sport in TV commercial
http://media.www.royalpurplenews.com/media/storage/paper1225/news/2007/12/12/Sports/Wheelchair.Basketball.Player.Promotes.Sport.In.Tv.Commercial-3145539.shtml
Wheelchair basketball gets limelight
http://www.madison.com/dev/wsj/home/column/smith/264659
No Excuses, Nothing But Net
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=701512
As I sit in my living room taking in LeBron James latest display of physical superiority,I am simply dumbfounded. The very thoughht that a mortal man can display that kind of athletic power is simply amazing. I think about the James puts in on a daily basis, and I am left to stand in awe at his love for the game.
As I watch Matt Scott handle the ball like a supernatural wizard, I can do nothing more than stare in amazement at his grueling clinic.
The clinic on how to manipulate a challanging sport and create a simple game. The clinic on how to rise above a physical challenge and become a physical specimen. The clinic on proving that disabilities do not--cannot--hinder a true champion.
The clinic on proving a sentiment carried by so many hard working disabled athlete: I can do it.
Thanks for the links, Eli.
To clarify: I love that Matt Scott is in a major TV ad. I love that a disabled black man is positively portrayed. I love that he is shown to be athletic and witty. I love that this Paralympian is being featured outside of the narrow time window of the Paralympics.
I didn't think all that needed to be said, though I'm happy to add it for clarity's sake.
The ad, however, doesn't simply portray a disabled athlete who, like other athletes in the ad series, has no time for excuses. The ad uses his disability to reinforce very stereotypical responses to disability: guilt and inspiration. The guilt is "This guy in a chair has no excuses, you certainly don't have any valid excuses if this crippled man has none." The inspiration isn't born of excellence -- the ad doesn't show us Scott's skill -- it's inspiration at what the cripple can do. And that's tiresome and insulting.
My computer isn't working. Until it's repaired I'm hunting and pecking on a laptop that's difficult for me to type at. If the source of frustration in this ad still isn't understood, I'll try again when I get my computer back.
I am in agreement with Shiva and Kay. Yes, great that there is a person with disability being shown as an athlete, even better that he isn't Rick Hansen (sorry Rick, there just has to be more than you!). But the problem is, I never heard the words of Matt Scott, I never believed for one instance that Matt wrote this or that we are finding out anything about Matt or why Matt plays basketball. There is the end image and there is every single line to which the nike visual rejoiner is "If a Gimp can do it; what is your excuse." Only that is played out with all 30-40 statements he makes: "I am too fat" - Nike: Hey, if a Gimp can do it, why can't you!
"I have blisters" - Nike: Hey, if this gimp can do it, why can't you!
To me this isn't what sports is about (doing what you love to the ability you are able) but rather a dash of male/north american competitiveness mixed with what amounts to a shaming technique. Was Matt really angry at all those people who make excuses? I can't know, but that is what Nike wants us to think - wants us to think that while we sit on the couch watching the 1 million dollar ad they bought, that YOU are a bad person, because hey, even a GIMP looks down on you.
And also, as Shiva says, they are trying to make an ablist style hierchy (sic) within disabilities; where those who can best maintain an active lifestyle are the best (or at least the most admired).
Tongue in cheek, sort of. Mainly bitter, though.
It's better than this Nike ad:
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/extra/nikead.htm
Remember this one?
WCD
I'm a little squicked by the "If the wheelie can do it, I can do it," message, too. Not every wheelchair user is an athlete. Wheelchair users who are athletes would be athletes whether they were AB or quads. The desire to excel athletically is intrinsic, not dependent upon the limits of one's body; recall the Olympic gymnast who finished her routine with a nearly perfect score after snapping her ankle, and was not aware of the break until after the routine was over. It's cool that they show him as an athlete, but it would be even cooler if they showed him instructing, say, a class of AB kids in basketball. The 'no excuses' thing diminishes the fact that there are plenty of good excuses not to play basketball- like, say, mine- I don't like the game, and it also diminishes the accomplishment this man has made because he is an athlete, he is talented, and he would be a talented athlete without the chair.
A 2 minute video clip on CNN.com to pass along.....
Student in Nike TV ad
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/01/01/dnt.wheelchair.bb.star.wmtv
All the best,
Eli
I am just back from a ski trip in VT with my son and am torn about the ad and adaptive sports in general. The Nike ad in question does indeed reinforce negative stereotypes about disabled people. Yet for Nike, a company that as a penchant for portraying disabled people in the worst way possible, the ad represents major progress. I spent most of the weekend skiing and on our long drive home thought long and hard about how I am perceived on the slopes. Adaptive ski programs are now common and I was interviewed on a local CBS TV affiliate out of Burlington. The interviewer knew nothing about adaptive sports or disability so I tried to keep my message simple: if disabled people are perceived to be "normal" they will be treated as such. Based on my experience to date (I am a novice skier) I am not sure this message is sinking in--I get that "you are inspirational" comment far too often. But I do know I am having a great deal of fun and by the end of the winter hope to be an independent skier. At this point I can hit the slopes with my son and partake in an activity we both love. Thus even if the Nike ad and my experience skiing does not send the best message to all people I think at least a few will be enlightened. By itself this is progress albeit painfully slow.
There's a Lincoln Mercury commercial over at YouTube featuring a female amputee runner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAEN9foU3LQ
I thought you might all be interested in it .
Wow, I dont think the main message nike was trying to say was that disabled people are weak, or not capable of doing something. I think all that they are saying is that this man a disabled person does not make excuses and why should you?
Honestly on my wrestling team in high school many of the kids miss practice only because thier feet hurt. Or other dumb reasons, i think nike is doing something good not bad. Why does everyone all of a sudden think that nike is now making fun of disabled people.
I think he did a really good job in the commercial. that made me want to go work out, because it showed me that those little dumb excuses are not good for anything.
The BBC had an interesting ad with wheelchair dancing, but when I search for it, annoyingly I can only find a Peter Kay sketch about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_'Rhythm_&_Movement'_idents
http://idents.tv/blog/2007/04/30/the-bbc-one-idents-that-started-this-blog/
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