Buy Walking VideosNike! What The BLEEP Is The Matter With YOU?!
This advertisement from Nike pisses me off:
It reads:
My butt is big and round like the letter C and ten thousand lunges has made it rounder but not smaller and that’s just fine. It’s a space heater for my side of the bed. It’s my embassador to those who walk behind me. It’s a border collie that herds skinny women away from the best deals at clothing sales. My butt is big and that’s just fine and those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it.
Just do it.
NikeWomen.com
I just sat there looking at the ad for five minutes as my brain locked up.
I looked at the picture of the absolutely PERFECT woman in their ad and tried to fathom how ANYONE at Nike thought her butt was big.
What the BLEEP is the matter with you, Nike?! Her butt is NOT big! It’s obvious that the folks at Nike haven’t seen a normal woman in SO long that they actually believe that this model’s butt was “big and round.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve realized that Nike is absolutely out of touch with reality. I wrote about it FIVE years ago (to the day):
I had gone into the Nike store in Las Vegas to purchase some of their overpriced iPod clothing, but the XL shirt was the size of a XS at a normal store.
The fact that they don’t carry a size for me when I’m fifty pounds lighter, just tells me that they aren’t an athletic clothing company. They’re a fashion clothing company just like Kenneth Cole. They don’t want “fatties” like me wearing their clothes and giving them a bad name.
Despite the look on my face, I was near tears when I had Mike click this picture of me. Despite all the weight I’ve lost, I’m still not thin enough for Nike. Well, they can take their 70-dollar shirts and stuff ‘em. I’m going to give my money to a company that deserves it.
I can’t believe they haven’t gotten the message yet. I still use my Nike+ every once and a while, and back in 2006, it single-handedly got me running. EVERYTHING else about the company, however, has made me want to bite, scratch and burn down the place. F-you, Nike! Her butt is NOT big!
Advert via: For Women In Shape! | The Fitness Low Down
Update 09-01-11: Apparently, the ad above is NOT from Nike. It was created by someone else, using the Nike wording from THIS ad:
Of course, the butt shown in the Nike ad is SMALLER and less rounded than the beautiful girl in the photoshopped ad, so I stand by EVERY word I say. What the BLEEP is the matter with Nike?!
Oh, and if you are self-conscious about any other part of your body, here is a bunch of other ads to make you feel like you’re not good enough:
This one reads:
I have thunder thighs, and that’s a compliment because they are strong and toned and muscular and though they are unwelcome in the petite section, they are cheered on in marathons. Fifty years from now, I’ll bounce a grandchild on my thunder thighs and then I’ll go out for a run.
Just do it.
NikeWomen.com
This one isn’t nearly so denigrating:
My knees are tomboys. They get bruised and cut every time I play soccer. I’m proud of them and wear my dresses short. My mother worries I will never marry with knees like that, but I know there’s someone out there who will say to me: I love you and I love your knees. I want the four of us to grow old together.
Just do it.
NikeWomen.com
The ad actually gets it right. Instead of pretending that the perfect legs shown are imperfect in some way, this ad actually is an AFTER picture. Nike actually did it right on this ad. It reads:
My legs were once two hairy sticks that weren’t very good at jump rope, but by the time I reached the age of algebra, they had come into their own and now in spin class, they are revered. Envied for their strength. Honored for their beauty. Hairless for the most part, except that place the razor misses just behind the ankles.
Just do it.
NikeWomen.com
Of course, then they got it wrong again with this one. Those shoulders do NOT look like a man’s. It reads:
My shoulders aren’t dainty or proportional to my hips. Some say they are like a man’s . I say leave men out of it. They are mine. I made them in a swimming pool then I went to yoga and made my arms.
Just do it.
NikeWomen.com
Correct Nike Ad Images via:
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August 31st, 2011 at 11:07 am
Actually, it’s being reported as a fake: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2010/08/nike-s-big-butt-campaign/23494/
The original manifesto was from a 2005 ad campaign.
October 7th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
I love you, Laura! Thanks for standing up for some reasonable body images.
January 14th, 2012 at 9:16 am
Unless Nike mis-spelled “Ambassador” in their ad (which is extraordinarily unlikely) and chose to use the archaic, 19th century spelling — then the ad is fake.
See, a spell checker would probably allow “Embassador” to slide, as it is spelled that way in many classic novels. But no 21st century copy-writer is going to make that mistake — and Weiden & Kennedy (Nike’s agency) has damn good copy writers.
So, in short: I call B.S. on this ad.
Not real.
February 1st, 2012 at 7:30 am
These ads arent about degrating women. They are about respecting yourself enough to actually want to work and make yourself better. These pictures are just giving examples of women that had to stuggle and ended up loving themselves in the end. Nike is victory, so just do it!
February 4th, 2012 at 9:11 am
You and your article are ridiculous. You rail against nike, then in the next breath credit their “nike+” with getting you running to lose the 50 you have to begin with. It sounds to me you are still not satisfied with your current body image, and as is all too often the case with a lot of overweight people, you want to blame everyone else but yourself. You ate your way to that weight and you must work your way out of it no matter what clothing you wear, it is not their job to fit you, you must work to fit them. I can assure you they are profit driven period. It does not behoove them to discriminate who can and cannot wear their clothes, however the vast majority of people that wear their clothes are athletes wearing it for athletic performance, if you don’t fit that segment of society get mad at yourself and get motivated to get there if that’s what you truly want. The pictures are about the beauty of the female form in a healthy athletic look, not putting you down. In fact the pictures are combating the plague to female society of the “stick thin model” look, which is by far the most repulsive of all. Direct your anger elsewhere, because nike wants to get you to your goals, to wear their product not discourage you altogether.
February 6th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Dane,
Do you not see the dichotomy? Nike promotes their clothing line as motivation to get healthy, but only makes the clothes in sizes for people who are already AT goal. They are a FASHION company, not an athletic company, and don’t deserve even one more penny of my money.
Laura
February 21st, 2012 at 7:13 pm
My dear, those women are reclaiming those words. The start of the ad is the stereotype, then the women reclaim it, and then they ROCK what they are. Because we are all beautiful when we are comfortable in our bodies and using them in ways that make us feel good and stronger.
I personally am fat. Always have been, always will be; with the curves peeled away, I would be just bony and awkwardly stout-framed.
At my smallest (and extremely fittest) I was was still classified as overweight. Of course, I could walk for ten or fifteen miles before getting tired… and my calves were huge. They still are. I worked 10 and fifteen hour days doing manual labor after college. I bought two cars with these thighs, helped pay my sister’s tuition with these feet, and matured into every wise curve of where my body is supposed to be.
I am built like a German farmwoman, I am built to last, and my ugly-stepsister-sized feet have carried me through 8 countries. If you looked at me, you’d see the outside and assume I hate my body. When people get mad and call me fat (as irate people do in customer service) I look them in the eye and say, And I’m sorry you’re angry. Truth is, I’d never live anywhere else. This is where I am supposed to be.
I am a fun, funny, and outrageous woman who knows who she is and where her limits are. I always wanted to be onstage, but while I was a young size 10 I was too afraid that people would look at me and judge. Ten years later, I rocked an amateur dance contest. My song was Fat-Bottomed Girls. (Personal anthem.) My five-year anniversary with my sig. other, and my gift to the young starved-thin self who never could love the way she was built.
I suspect there may be a cultural gap here. I say, nike, good try… and try again. That said, my momma’s right. There’s so much size inflation in many stores that it’s ridiculous. A size 6 used to be a size 10 twenty years ago. But really, it’s probably better go someplace where the clothes are more reasonably priced, so you can go enjoy that awesome, hard-earned body on a vacation. Or maybe something that shows off your gorgeous self!!
I just had to respond. If you want to talk to me, feel free to email.
June 28th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
I don’t find any of these ads, whether real or not, degrading to women at all. In fact, with as much respect as you are willing to take from this, I feel you and your criticisms are very degrading. The ads are not meant to point out the flaws in these women’s bodies, they are to empower women to appreciate the many parts of our bodies we continue to have issues with or find as flaws ourselves.
The biggest issue our society has about body image is the fact that we advertise perfection. A perfect body image cannot be obtained and therefore shouldn’t be advertised because nobody has the same standards as to what perfection is. That is why I find your article very degrading. You mention “perfect”. I don’t think you are seeing the Idea the creator is trying to get across. I see the word “EMBRACE” when I look at these. Nike isn’t judging the women, they are putting their best features, whether it be a BIG CURVY BUTT, MANLY MUSCULAR SHOULDERS, and THUDEROUS THIGHS into the spotlight.
If you’re trying to blog about body image, next time think as to what Nike or any other sporting goods and clothing brands are advertising… FITNESS. They look beyond looks and size and target a body earned through fitness.
July 17th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Personally Lose Weight and Get in Shape….for YOU, no one else. Its your health, self-confidence, pride, accomplishments that you should care about and be proud of. Where is there a Perfect World. I mute ads & commercials, or turn the channel.
Plus to Nike or any other Weight Loss thingy, its about Money…when was the last time you saw a Nike commercial when the Biggest Loser or Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition was on. And all of the articles in the News about how American’s are Overweight, our children are obese, etc.
And then you have the other-side of the coin with Anorexia and thin people feeling they are overweight, starving themselves.
Then Medical Insurance, Medical Costs, those overweight contribute to medical costs, just as those who have other disorders, as Anorexia, we all need treatment.
It took years of watching The Biggest Loser before my significant other, felt it time to do something, possibly since she became a grandmother for the first time…she lost 60 lbs in a few months…she feels much better about herself, her knees do not hurt, she can climb stairs without shortness of breath and joins in on 5K Cancer Walks, as she is a 2 time Cancer Survivor….and here I might be overweight at 211, 6′, and I am the one with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure & Cholesterol, having a Heart Attack in 2005.
Its been a constant battle at 65…and with a constant reminder my Father died at 70…so Get in Shape, where you feel good, big butt or not…forget Nike Ads & Nike Clothes…I cannot afford Nike, rather WalMart…I need a cane to walk, nor can I run. I keep going, doing the best I can, adapt and overcome, Never Give Up.
So be thankful you are aware and doing something about your Health through weight loss and exercise, not making Nike Fatter in the Wallet.
August 4th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
you confuse big butt and fat body. A girl can have a bigg butt and a skinny waste and not be fat. Take Kim Kardashian. But you are hating because they won’t put an add with an fat waisted obese woman. Sorry. Hate on. Obesity is not healthy and big butts don’t equate to fat.