Notes for Semiotic Analysis
Nike’s “Play New“ Advertisement Campaign
The advertisement’s target audience is 15 to 40-year-olds because most sneaker users are that age. The commercial does not promote damaging gender stereotypes because it shows men and women exercising. The ad normalizes whiteness by making it invisible, so it does not use racial stereotypes. No enticing part like hair is displaced, and the ad shows whole bodies. The advertisement does not promote conventional male and female beauty.
Representations of Manner
Everybody in the advertisement is attempting something new in their lives. As a direct consequence of this, they exhibit feelings of both fear and delight. All the people in the commercial may be seen smiling, followed by non-enjoyment grins, which are more frequently seen than enjoyment smiles to convey anxiousness before trying out the new activity. Drooping eyelids, downcast eyes, depressed lip corners, and slanted inner eyebrows show regret at failure. The advertising lacks eye contact and prose since everyone is doing something different.
Representations of Activity
People in the advertisement touch various objects depending on what they wish to test. They are touching skating, for example, if they want to try skating, and boxing gloves when attempting boxing. In the advertisement, those attempting new things are active, while spectators remain passive. The way the commercial is set out visually depicts people doing sporting activities but failing. The athletes are positioned as superior, while the spectators are positioned as inferior. Nobody in the advertisement is intimate with anyone else.
Props and Settings
The objects included in the commercial illustrate the cultural significance of the company’s products. Due to this, the advertising displays several different pieces of sporting equipment to give the impression that it mostly sells athletic wear. The ad setting is purposefully chosen to positively impact viewers and encourage them to let go of their worries. Further, the backdrop of the commercial urges the audience to try something completely different from what they have done before.
Adidas’ Honouring Black Excellence
Representations of Bodies
The figurines’ ages were chosen to portray wisdom and senility to people of various ages, especially those between the ages of 15 and 45. Further, men are regarded as busy and logical, while women are portrayed as domestic. The advertisement also relies on racial stereotypes because it exclusively features individuals of a single race. The entire body is visible; however, the women have no hair. The advertisement is significant since it promotes the rights of a particular race.
Representations of Manner
In the advertisement, one person appears to be happy, while the others all have serious expressions on their faces. These facial expressions can be deduced from the people’s smiling and expressionless faces. Those making eye contact with the camera are either serious or laughing, depending on how they present themselves. In the commercial, no one is depicted resting down, suggesting they are either doing something or showing their achievements.
Representations of Activity
In the advertisement, a person is shown touching a basketball to demonstrate how much he has given back to the community through that sport. Also, holding the basketball has the effect of demonstrating that the organization deals with sporting goods. Everyone is engaged in the activity, whether standing or playing a sport. The commercial’s spatial arrangement depicts the changing gender dynamics. The advertisement is not close because everyone is positioned as superior.
Props and Settings
The medals in the ad symbolize the significant contributions made by many members of the black community. Moreover, the various uses and applications of the medals signal the company’s focus on sporting goods. Basketball symbolizes the great influence that African Americans have had on sports in the United States. The setting of the commercial conveys the impression that sports are being played.
FIFA 21 – Inspiring the Next Generation of Footballers
Representations of Bodies
The commercial’s portrayals of youth, naiveté, and experience will resonate with 11–17-year-olds. The advertisement also portrays men and women stereotypically. Women are emotional and docile, whereas men are aggressive and intellectual. It also purposely mixes ethnicities to prevent racial generalizations of people. All models are clad from head to toe, and no hair is used to highlight their beauty. There are no unrealistic ideals of male or female attractiveness for sale in the commercial.
Representations of Manner
The advertisement features emotional expressions ranging from joy to praise to mourning. A player’s facial expressions can convey a wide range of emotions, from joy after a victory to awe amid prayer to despair at the thought of losing. In the opening of the commercial, when the youngster reprimands his cousin for being sluggish, the two make eye contact. One of the players is prone to fielding while others are standing, trying to get him up during a match.
Representations of Activity
The kid’s hand on the ball is a visual cue that the commercial relates to soccer. Male football players are seen as energetic through their body language, while female players are depicted as static. A spatial arrangement of figures depicts several situations within the commercial, constituting a form of positional movement. The players are elevated above the submissive spectators, but no intimate bond is made.
Props and Settings
Using a bicycle symbolizes advancement, revitalization, and the arrival of positive new times. This inspires children of the future to take part in the activity depicted in the commercial. In addition, prayer symbolizes humility, an essential quality for folks to possess when competing in FIFA games on their PlayStation. Its settings do impact the demographic of people who are interested in playing the game, though.
Content Analysis
Nike’s “Play New“ Advertisement Campaign
Nike introduced a new marketing initiative in 2021 called “Play New.“ The ad campaign is very different from the typical Nike commercials on television and in magazines. The models, for instance, are not athletes of the highest caliber; they are just average folks. Its underlying message is not one of triumph and conquest but about falling short of one’s goals. This could be a one-time promotion that they do not expand on in the future.
In the commercial, people are shown attempting and ultimately failing at a sport. At the story’s conclusion, the moral is that the most important thing is to attempt something new, even if you fail. Before this ad campaign, Nike was known to attract customers who were already physically active and into sports. Famous people and outstanding athletic achievements were not featured in its commercials. From this commercial, Nike has expanded its marketing to everyone interested in starting a new sport or activity.
The campaign’s good intentions may end up being its obstacle. As there will always be people who believe that “If it is for everyone, then it is for no one,“ tailoring business offerings to specific demographics is essential. Nike may have increased the size of their potential customer base by branching out, but consumers may disagree.
If Nike becomes a brand for everyone, some may feel it has lost its exclusive feel. A survey conducted in 2021 found that 19.78% of consumers chose Nike due to the high quality of the Nike brand (Author, 2021). About 20% of consumers support Nike since the product is superior and the brand is aspirational. The second piece is crucial; the company could lose those customers if it loses them.
Adidas’ Honouring Black Excellence
For generations, sport or culture has not been represented without the Black population. This has been implemented to end racial discrimination against black people. Given this reality and the crucial role played by the Black Community, I think Adidas aimed to establish Honoring Black Excellence (HBE). This program celebrates the accomplishments of Black people all year long. Three main elements support the program.
The first aspect is to work with communities, Organizations, and the creator community to open doors so that kids who need them can get the help they need to develop their skills, find positive role models, and participate in sports. The second part is raising awareness by highlighting the efforts of people making a difference in their communities through our brand’s platforms. Finally, by holding themselves accountable, they can construct a more inclusive narrative that seeks to alter perspectives and aid in eliminating negative stereotypes by highlighting the achievements of people of African descent.
Efforts to celebrate black achievement tend to dwell more on the past than the present or the future. The goal of the Recognizing Black Excellence campaign is to draw attention to the positive contributions made by Black leaders worldwide. Adidas has been running a campaign all year, celebrating athletes from all sports and areas. They have highlighted Black community leaders from Compton to Atlanta who have developed thriving Black neighborhoods and are working to improve the world one block at a time. The fact that the corporation is honoring the Black Community and working in partnership and co-creation with its members bodes well for the campaign’s success. In the same way that there are monuments and commemorative days for those working towards a more equitable society, Adidas recognizes black achievement.
FIFA 21 – Inspiring the Next Generation of Footballers
The U.K. commercial for EA Sports’ FIFA 21 features a Muslim grassroots league during Ramadan. I think this is an attempt to inspire young Asian football players and address the absence of their presence in the sport. The piece delves into the Birmingham grassroots football club known as the Midnight Ramadan League, which was formed to accommodate Muslim players who find it difficult to play football during Ramadan. Games in the league begin between Iftar (the evening meal) and Suhoor (the morning meal).
A Muslim adolescent, his family, and a younger female cousin obsessed with soccer are seen eating and praying together before the teen heads out for a night game. After a challenge knocks him down, his hero, Leicester City star Hamza Choudhury, is there to help him up. Choudhury then takes the ball and scores a goal as the game transitions into computer-generated imagery. At the end of the commercial, the young man goes home to play soccer with his cousin.
The concept for the commercial draws on studies showing how influential role models can be in bringing about positive change in sports by motivating the next generation, gaining parental support, and eliminating bias. Only 10 of the 4000 professional football players in the United Kingdom are of Asian descent, a very low percentage compared to the whole population. In 2020, the Football Supporters Association and Beyond Entertainment polled fans and found that 86% of respondents believed that more positive role models would boost the number of British Asian players (Jardine, 2021). This demonstrates how huge an impact role models have on sports.
Inclusive Masculine Theory
Inclusive masculine theory (IMT) is a notion that arose from research on the more inclusive behaviors of heterosexual males and the shifting patterns of male social circle cultures in the United States and the United Kingdom. Research demonstrates that many young straight males reject homophobia, involve gay peers in their friendships, are more mentally affectionate with friends, are physically interactive with other males, acknowledge bisexuality as a valid sexuality, accept activities and artifacts formerly marked as feminine, and avoid violent acts and bullying. Given the continuous decrease in homophobic views in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other Western nations, it is enticing to contend that the shift in gendered behaviors can be explained by this decline (Anderson & McCormack, 2016). Although initially convincing, it is insufficient because comparable visceral and explicit manifestations of masculinity exist in other homophobic cultures.
While class, area, race, religion, and other variables affect the patterns of masculinities, a central tenet of Inclusive masculine theory is that the shifts in men’s gendered behaviors are not trivial or transient. They would rather indicate a massive transformation in masculine practices. Numerous studies have documented the changing landscape of masculinities in various geographical regions of many Western nations. As a result, it has been argued that these particular local cultures are impacted by a broader phenomenon – a decrease in homohysteria resulting from improved attitudes toward LGBT individuals and other legislative, societal, and cultural shifts (Anderson & McCormack, 2016). In addition to their durability, such new masculinities are depicted as a primary obstacle to the past sexuality disparity frameworks from which they arose.
Moreover, the requirement of gender relationality is not likely to explain the historically distinct relationships between men and women in the United States. The division and reintegration of gendered spheres over time are recorded, particularly about the gendering of feelings. It is argued that there was a convergence between males’ and females’ emotional expressionism before the second wave of industrialization, after which gender differentiation and relationalization occurred (Anderson & McCormack, 2016).
Male and female-gendered behaviors are not necessarily in opposition to one another. The differentiation of gendered domains, while still evident in many sectors, can intersect, according to the essentials of Inclusive masculine theory. At this point, it seems reasonable to apply the latter concept to the advertisements being explored.
Theory Application
Given the essentials of the Inclusive masculine theory explored above, the reviewed Nike commercial follows the fundamental principles of modern approaches within the scope of IMT. Although there are some slight differences between male and female activities in the ad, with a bit more intensity for men, gender stereotypes are not likely to shape the content of the promotional campaign. Hence, Nike tends to follow the principles of gender equality, which contributes to its recognition as a significant brand.
Then, for both Adidas’s and FIFA 21 ads, IMT may shed light on racial non-discrimination. Even though this element is not the defining one in the framework of Inclusive masculine theory, evidence has shown that males associated with refraining from homophobic ideas express less racial discrimination. Such a positive tendency is reflected in the approaches of Adidas and FIFA 2021, which depicted a great extent of tolerance in their ads toward the black community and Muslim representatives. Thus, IMT has shown that such industry giants follow modern tendencies within inclusiveness and non-discrimination, contributing to their enhanced reputation worldwide.
References
Anderson, E., & McCormack, M. (2016). Inclusive masculinity theory: Overview, reflection and refinement. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(5), 547–561.
Author, R. R. (2021). Over 40% of the respondents are satisfied with Nike products. Survey Results & Insights – Real Research Media. Web.
Jardine , A. (2021). FIFA 21 aims to inspire Asian soccer players with this portrait of a real-life Muslim team playing during Ramadan. Ad Age. Web.