Typically, when I see a company resorting to lots of bare skin and punny risque jokes to attract consumers, I shield my eyes in either disgust, or discomfort, depending on the situation. It's not a marketing strategy I'd suggest. But a new "viral" video from Nike (NKE) is make the rounds on Twitter, blogs and email lists (it even popped up in a bike activism list to which I subscribe) and has me charmed and giggling.The video, which depicts the "Bear Butte" running camp -- in which world-class runners train naked (bare butts are, indeed, shown, but the video blurs out the runners' other private parts) -- is designed as a marketing ploy for Nike's new Nike Free 5.0 running shoe, meant to make your foot feel as if it's running barefoot. And it is certainly obvious that many retakes were necessary to avoid having U.S. champion runners burst into laughter as they deliver lines like, "I let it all hang out," and "as we like to call it, super-natural running."
By poking fun at Nike employees themselves, and not at the runners, and somehow completely avoiding any sexual overtones (the one couple shown, Kara and Adam Goucher, are married), the video manages to balance delicately on the line between funny and scandalous, and I'm left at the end of the video wanting to buy a pair of Nike Free. It's brilliant, and the perfect marketing for its time.
Darren Novall at CNBC calls Nike "hands down," "not even close" the "best Fortune 500 company in the world at viral video these days"; Todd Wasserman at BrandFreak says the spot "reveals the naked truth about Nike: The company isn't as humorless as many of us thought." I predict it will do just as it intended; keep the shoe at the top of runners' minds and headed to replace their old shoes with something "super natural."
To see all 10 of Sarah Gilbert's top 10 best and worst naked advertising campaigns, click here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-24-2009 @ 5:12PM
amey said...
This is one of the funniest things I've seen online in a while!
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4-27-2009 @ 7:42AM
Willy said...
I saw this last week and laughed the whole way through. Watch all the way to the end for some deadpan perfection from the Gouchers. :)
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5-04-2009 @ 10:57PM
grant said...
Now if they would manufacture them in the U.S., I would consider buying them. They make a fortune selling shoes here, that they used to make here. Now they pay peanuts to their workers overseas, but still charge big $$ for them.
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5-27-2009 @ 3:40PM
Ben said...
Nike makes the best shoes thats why I always buy Nike and they last a long time as well.
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6-03-2009 @ 12:51PM
Susan said...
Just another sad commentary on the decline of western civilization. Quite pathetic if you ask me.
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6-05-2009 @ 7:17PM
Troy said...
Nobody asked you. Remove the snooty stick from your rear there goody two shoes.
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6-24-2009 @ 12:27PM
Sandra said...
Lol! That was hilarious. I was bracing myself for discomfort when it said there were naked people on the ad, but like the article says, it's not a sexual ad, so it's funny without being inappropriate. Good one Nike!
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7-10-2009 @ 12:12PM
Anthony J. Gullo said...
The ad goes over the line in a passive agressive attempt to be flirtatious under the guise of healthy nude running. The attempt to run the line between healthy@risque will surely get the attention of church groups and other organizations who may decide to boycott the Nike brand. Nike assumes society accepts their definition of what is normal and can be therefore be viewed by an accepting public. I think that is a dangerous assumption for a company that does not have to assume that kind of risk. Hey,--Nike -"-if it is not broken why fix it.? "Just a thought! Anthony
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