Nike Celebrates "The Greatest Athlete Of All Time" In New Ad
And it's a woman.
During the Academy Awards on Sunday night, Nike released a new commercial in celebration of International Women's Day. Entitled 'Until We All Win,' it is a video montage of tennis superstar Serena Williams dominating the court throughout the years, over which she speaks candidly about her struggle for acceptance.
“I’ve never been the right kind of woman,” she says. “Over-sized and over-confident. Too mean if I don’t smile. Too black for my tennis whites. Too motivated for motherhood. But I’m proving time and time again that there’s no wrong way to be a woman." Nailed it.
While it's quite right to feel cautious when big brands step into the realm of activism (*cough* Pepsi *cough*), Nike's approach feels different. Its new 'Unlaced' project, for example, feels like a genuine attempt to bridge gender inequality in the sneaker world – and we couldn't be any more behind that if we tried.
Giving a strong and powerful black woman the airtime that inspirational black women deserve can also never be praised enough in our grossly underrepresentative world – especially at the Oscars, which has been blasted time and again for whitewashing.
In a press release Nike said, “Nike wanted to recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of women everywhere and share our belief in gender equality, in this case, delivered by Serena Williams, the greatest athlete of all time.”
“Until we all win.” We can stand behind that.
Watch the video above and head to equality.nike.com to learn more about how to get involved, take a stand or donate to the cause.
Next up, is toxic masculinity killing us?
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