Nike: Winner Stays

Rhetorical Analysis

Would you risk everything? The advertisement series about risking everything used by Nike during the 2014 World Cup gained a great deal of popularity during the global event. But really how effective is this slogan as used in Nike’s “Winner Stays” commercial? The commercial that has since been viewed millions of times relies on all three rhetorical appeals to varying degrees as Nike attempts to generate excitement for the 2014 World Cup and their soccer products. With the use of music, commentators, professional soccer players, and other professional athletes, Nike creates a memorable message. In this commercial, through the appropriate use of emotional appeals and Nike establishing itself as a trustworthy authority, rhetoric is used effectively with only minor weaknesses due to fallacies.  

 

SOAPStone

In this commercial Nike, the speaker, is focusing on promoting its products and generating excitement for the 2014 World Cup several months before the event. Nike directs its message at a varied audience, using a tone of excitement and passion. The most obvious portion of the audience is soccer fans. Among these fans, people who also play the sport are the most highly targeted members of the audience. Nike’s primary goal is to get these fans to buy their cleats and other soccer products. The commercial attempts to do so by showing professional athletes using these products, as well as implying that someone can play like the professionals if they also use Nike equipment.

 

The Audience

The commercial is all-inclusive, appealing to as many people as possible. A variety of ages are shown throughout the commercial including younger teens sitting and watching the game, slightly older men playing, and elderly people, such as the mailman Iniesto. The fans shown in the commercial take on a wide spectrum of diversity, hailing from many different countries and ethnic groups. In a similar manner, the professional soccer players that appear and play in the commercial are from a variety of nations including: Sweden, Brazil, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Germany, the United States, England, Italy, and Argentina. As this commercial was for the men’s 2014 World Cup, women are not shown playing, but this is not meant to discriminate or exclude them. Women can be seen sitting on the bench and cheering in the crowd, such as is the case with Irina Shayk.

 

While soccer fans and players are whom this commercial is mainly directed at, it also makes efforts to appeal to other groups. The appearance of supermodel Irina Shayk attempts to gain the interest of both men and women. The use of the Incredible Hulk appeals to Marvel fans. Professional basketball player Kobe Bryant sitting in the crowd and talking to Pirlo attempts to generate the interest of basketball fans and other Americans that recognize Kobe. Similarly the standoff between Jon “Bones” Jones and Anderson Silva is meant to attract UFC and other mixed martial arts fans. Together, the use of these various figures attempts to appeal to as large an audience as possible outside of traditional soccer fans.

 

Pathos

Of the three rhetorical appeals, pathos, or persuading the audience by appealing to their emotions, is used most abundantly. The commercial attempts to make the audience feel excited about the World Cup and invokes a sense of pride by showing a variety of international stars and fans gathering together to root for their countries. Excitement for the World Cup and Nike’s products is further created by showing the most fast-paced aspects of the game as players score goals, perform skill moves, and make tackles. This is then combined with cutaways to cheering fans in the stadium, at bars, and in homes, as well as the commentators yelling and becoming animated about what is happening. On top of all of this, an upbeat song plays throughout the advertisement that adds to people’s optimism and enthusiasm for the World Cup.  

 

The commercial also makes appeals to the personal aspirations of many fans while implementing elements of humor. Many fans of the sport want to be great themselves, and Nike uses these desires in the commercial. What starts out as a pickup game quickly turns into a game on the international stage. Amateur players turn into world renowned professionals, and a field in a park turns into a stadium in which thousands of fans are cheering. The advertisement is attempting to show that the fans can realize their dreams of being great players by using Nike gear like the professionals. Humor is added to this to further continue the positive emotions of this commercial. Examples of the use of humor include the player who looks like David Luiz telling David Luiz that he doesn’t look like David Luiz, the mispronunciation of Iniesta as Iniesto, making the player a mailman, and Pirlo saying “I’m glad that’s not me” after the participant who said that he is Pirlo gets hit in the face. The commercial relies heavily on emotional appeals while simultaneously implementing other means of persuasion.

 

Ethos

After pathos, the next most used rhetorical appeal is ethos, in which the speaker attempts to persuade the audience by showing he or she is knowledgable and can be trusted. Numerous famous figures outside of soccer, such as Kobe Bryant, Irina Shayk, Anderson Silva, and Jon “Bones” Jones, are used to show that both Nike and the World Cup can appeal to more than just current soccer fans. It attempts to include those who are not already fans of the sport by using other well known athletes and celebrities to generate interest amongst those who follow these figures. Many famous international soccer stars are also used to further cement Nike’s authority and reliability on this subject. Not only do these players make an appearance, but they actively wear Nike cleats and apparel, demonstrating that famous athletes trust Nike equipment, so the average person should as well.

 

Logos

Logos, the third and final rhetorical appeal, based on using logic and reason, is used sparingly during the commercial. The first use of logos is when the one amateur player says “winner stays on.” This is a reasonable concept for the winner to continue playing and is also related to the format of the tournament in the elimination stage, where the winner continues and the loser goes home. Also, logos is used in the dialogue between Ronaldo and the other player in which they use aspects about what is going on around them to justify the claim that each is better than the other. Lastly, logos is used when the young player takes the penalty kick from Ronaldo as it matches the slogan of the commercial which is to “risk everything.” While logos and the other rhetorical appeals are used effectively, a few fallacies, or weaknesses and inconsistencies in the advertisement, are still present.

 

Fallacies

The bandwagon effect is the most apparent fallacy in this commercial, but several others also appear. The bandwagon effect simply attempts to gain support for an idea by showing that a large amount of people support it. The bandwagon appeal is recurring throughout the commercial as numerous professional soccer players are shown wearing Nike jerseys and cleats to get people to buy the equipment. The amateur players seen at the beginning of the commercial also wear Nike gear. Repeated images of fans cheering also shows the bandwagon effect, as Nike is attempting to encourage interest in the World Cup by showing the wide variety of people who are already fans. In a similar manner, Nike utilizes other non-soccer athletes and celebrities in the advertisement, creating an appeal to false authority. None of these people are associated with the sport in a way that would validate their opinions as being more valuable than the average person’s. Faulty causality is another fallacy present in this advertisement due to the fact that the main premise of the commercial is Nike gear can transform amateur pickup players into world class superstars, which by itself is undoubtedly untrue.

 

Overall, the Nike “Winner Stays” commercial uses rhetoric effectively. The commercial utilizes all three rhetorical appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos, to create a strong advertisement for the World Cup and Nike soccer products. Also, the appearance of only a few fallacies, bandwagon effect, appeal to false authority, and faulty causality, improves the effectiveness of the commercial by preventing them from weakening the advertisement. Through the use of a variety of professional soccer players and other famous athletes, Nike establishes their status as an organization that can be trusted about this sport. By using excited commentators, fans, and an upbeat song, the commercial further utilizes rhetoric effectively, getting the viewer’s attention and helping to excite the viewer in the same manner as the fans and commentators. Lastly, while logos is not as widely used as the others, it does make appearances in the form of the banter between Ronaldo and the other player as well as the concept of the winner continuing on. Combining all of these aspects, Nike is able to create a commercial that uses rhetoric appropriately and effectively to advertise their products and generate excitement for the World Cup.