Back to the Nike promotional video, is “licking the racket” disgusting or cool?

Nike's Olympic promotional ad has recently caused a stir on the Internet, but some netizens found the "racquet licking" behavior in it uncomfortable. Is this a deliberate interpretation of the ad or a unique promotional need?

Nike has been in the spotlight again recently. The reason is that a few days ago, Nike released a promotional video that showed a table tennis player licking his racket, which made some netizens feel uncomfortable. Because foreign brands have done too many things in the Chinese market in recent years, and table tennis is China's national sport, people's attention to this scene has increased, and the topic even topped the Weibo hot search list.

Some people think that the "licking" action looks bad, while others think it is making a fuss out of nothing. Some people even brought up the Xinjiang cotton incident again and said they would not buy Nike again.

As an international brand, why did Nike's promotional video have such controversial scenes? Is there really something wrong with the filming of the promotional video, or are people just too sensitive? Putting aside the emotions and verbal battles, we still have to look at the commercial itself.

Nike new promotional video

It can be seen that the original film of 1 minute and 30 seconds is not very long, and there is no plot in the whole film. It just edits together fencing, basketball, track and field, weightlifting and other competitions, and combines BGM and speed-changing lenses to create an exciting audio-visual effect.

The narration is quite interesting, revolving around the question "Am I hated?" and is actually talking about the attitude of doing everything possible to win.

Even if it is teasing opponents, having no sympathy, being easily impulsive... these rebellious traits that do not seem to conform to mainstream discourse appear in "me", it is only because "I" only see victory and power.

As the Olympics approaches, when various brands are playing the emotional card of "friendship first, competition second", this unique attitude is eye-catching.

“You can’t win all the time, but you have to give it your all every time, and use all your skills to give it a try. Because if you don’t win, then you’ve already lost.” The copy aroused the most simple desire for “winning” in people’s hearts, allowing the game to return to its original meaning and successfully resonate with the public’s psychology.

Judging from the data, this short film received 108,000 likes, which is significantly better than other official works of the same period.

After watching the trailer, back to the controversy, the table tennis clip is just one of many sports, and to fit the "unruly" tone of the short film itself, the "licking" action seems to be understandable. If, as netizens say, this action is replaced with a kiss, then the provocative color and impact will be less strong.

Ultimately, the shots in this promotional video will cause controversy. One reason is that most people will not go out of their way to watch the entire original film . The isolated shots are out of context and can easily lead to misunderstandings.

The second reason is that Nike already has a "criminal record" in the Chinese market . The public relations for a controversial incident was not done well. The details of the incident may fade with time, but consumers' trust in the brand has been actually damaged, and it may "explode" at any time in the future.

Although the promotional video is reasonable, there must be other feasible ways of expression to avoid possible disputes. As one of the world's top sports brands, Nike should always maintain considerable sensitivity in the Chinese market in order to repair and accumulate brand trust assets.

Author: TOP

Source: WeChat public account "TopMarketing"