A Rhetorical Analysis Of Nike

This Nike advertisement is showing the audience how their products can be used in a wide variety of sports and activities, by showing a kid running around town getting asked to join in on different activities while using different Nike products. The commercial uses famous athletes throughout the ad playing their respective sport to get the audience thinking “If I buy those Nike shoes, I could be wearing the same pair as my favorite athlete.” Nike establishes ethos, because every actor in the commercial is wearing Nike products from the shorts, shirts, gloves, shoes, socks, etc. which leads the consumer to see that Nike is widely used everywhere. Nike also uses logos by showing athletes wearing their products and pathos by showing the kid having

a good time playing these sports in the various Nike products he wears throughout the entirety of the commercial. Nike shows the consumer that they are the best outfitter when it comes to sports, because nearly every person in the commercial who participates in the sport is wearing a Nike product.
The commercial starts off with the kid riding his skateboard home from school, and while walking past a basketball court, he gets asked by another kid saying “Hey kid, we’re short a guy.

Wanna run?” and the main actor in the commercial throws his popsicle away and pulls out Nike shoes, shorts, and then takes off his sweater to reveal, you guessed it, a Nike tank top. Along with the kid being in all his Nike gear, the other kids are playing in their Nike gear as well along with a Nike basketball. So in less than ten seconds, we’ve already seen that Nike is dominant in the basketball field by the use of their products in the sport. The ball winds up rolling in the street, where a 10k run is about to take place. The race starts and a running team asks him once again, “Hey kid, we’re short a guy. Wanna run?” and the kid just throws on his Nike running gear, he takes off his basketball shoes and throws on some Nike running shoes and his Nike running attire and proceeds to join in on the race, This scene alone presents the viewer with an absurd amount of Nike product placement as seen below. You can see that Nike is sponsoring this 10k Summer Sun Run, due to the Nike logos on the start sign and also along the street that probably extends to the finish line. It also appears that every runner has on their Nike gear as well, once again showing that Nike is also very dominant in the running

game.
During the next scene we see the kid, now tired from running, getting asked to play some stickball by Mike Trout, a baseball player from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Trout is the first big star we see in this Nike commercial, but certainly not the last. This time, the kid doesn’t change into any Nike baseball attire like the ones Mike Trout and his friends are using. He stays in the running gear. Suddenly, a bus full of sumo wrestlers asking him to join them, because they too are short a guy. Thankfully, retired professional volleyball player Mist Mae-Treanor arrives with a couple of friends, both in their Nike gear, asking him to join them in a volley ball match on the beach, because they need a helping hand. The kid throws on some volleyball clothes and a nice pair of Nike sunglasses as well. He then gets asked by a pair of lacrosse players, Miles and Lyle Thompson, to play help them out in their game which he does. They give him some Nike lacrosse gear and he winds up getting pushed throw some bushes and falls in a swimming pool and retired soccer player Mia Hamm is by the pool telling the kid to dry off and he then winds up on a soccer field with Nike soccer attire and scores a goal and while celebrating, NFL quarterback Andrew Luck and a group of guys are playing some football and he tells the kid “Hey kid what are you doing? We’re short a guy.” The kid puts on the Nike football gear, similar to the ones Andrew Luck and the other players are wearing. The kid goes for a pass and catches the Nike football with his Nike football gloves and runs all the way back to where he started, the basketball court, where we see Anthony Davis asking the kid to join in on their game, which he does.
Throughout this commercial the audience was able to see how many products Nike has to offer the consumer. No matter what sport or activity you’re doing, Nike will be able to supply you with the proper attire and equipment to ensure that you will be able to compete in the same attire that the professional athletes use. Nike is using logos by showing us, the audience, that Athletes like Mike Trout, Mia Hamm, Andrew Luck, and Anthony Davis use their products not only on the field, but also off the field. The athletes wearing these products allow the audience to see the trust they have in Nike by the continuous use of their products in their everyday lives. The commercial also consists of the ridiculous, but catchy song called “Surfin’ Bird” by the Trashmen. This song is very upbeat and reminded me of the episode “I Dream of Jesus” from the TV series family guy where Peter is constantly singing this catchy song which I still remember from the first time I saw that episode and I was able to make a connection with this song being played in the Nike commercial to that family guy commercial. When I hear this song now, I am reminded of both Family Guy and this Nike commercial. The song had the power to keep me entertained throughout the commercial because the song was just so silly and catchy. This commercial uses pathos, because I’m sure that if a family had the TV on and this commercial came on, the kids would be dancing and singing along to the commercial and the parents would go out to the living room to see what all the ruckus was about and they start seeing all the products Nike offers and how happy the kid in the advertisement is playing these sports while wearing the Nike clothes, which makes the parents feel that they would want their kids to be this happy too and would go out to the store to buy them Nike attire the next time they go shopping for some active wear.
Nike is a well-known and well liked brand. This Nike ad uses Logos by using famous athletes to endorse their products, so their fans to can go to the store to buy and wear the same gear they do. The ad uses pathos by playing a silly and catchy song in the background to keep the audience entertained and focused and the ad. In this ad, Nike is able to show off a wide variety of products such as shoes, socks, shorts, balls, etc. which illustrates to the audience that Nike, as a brand, is trustworthy because their products are used in nearly all of the major sports like football, basketball, and baseball. Nike relies on both pathos and logos in order to build up their ethos. The fact that these professional athletes are wearing the Nike brand and some of the sports are using Nike equipment helps build up the credibility of Nike, because they are incorporated in many sports. Also, Nike has been around for a long time, which helps build up their ethos. By combining all three of Aristotle’s appears together in this ad. They are able to use pathos to grab the audience’s attention by playing a silly and catchy song that people can sing along to while the ad is playing. They use logos by introducing a variety of professional athletes to the commercial who play different sports from all across the United States. They also show logos by showing the audience that they sponsor runs like the Summer Sunshine Run previously discussed. Nike uses ethos by being a long time company who has expanded not only throughout the United States, but globally where we see many different nations and athletes wearing and using Nike equipment on a day to day business. Nike shows us the wide variety of products they offer and the many uses for them. This ad was successful in gaining the audience’s attention and was also able to build up ethos by having logos and pathos as the building blocks. The target audience of this commercial would have to be the everyday person, because we can all relate to the need for active wear, shoes, and sports equipment. This ad will make you consider Nike the company you want to buy from the next time you go shopping.