Rhetorical Analysis Find Your Greatness

Rhetorical Analysis: Nike “Find Your Greatness” In the summer of 2012, Nike unleashed its new “Find Your Greatness” campaign during the Olympic Games. The campaign does not just focus on star athletes, but on the everyday athlete, who strives to achieve their own personal goals. Nike’s vice president of Brand Design & Communications explained "The idea behind 'Find Your Greatness' is simply to inspire and energize everyday athletes everywhere to celebrate their achievements, participate and enjoy the thrill of achieving in sport at their own level.” In essence the commercials are used to encourage people to get up and to begin setting their own personal goals. The campaign is not used to sell a product, but to sell a journey The particular commercial that is being focused features a young boy who is heavily breathing and overweight jogging down a country road. The commercial begins with a voice over stating: “Greatness is something that is made up. Somehow we come to believe greatness is a gift, reserved for a chosen few, the prodigies, the superstars, and the rest of us can only stand by watching. We can forget that. Greatness is not some rare DNA strand, it’s not some precious thing. Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We are all capable of it, all of us.” This particular advertisement became quite popular with viewers causing millions of people to watch the commercial on YouTube over a million times. The commercial is a powerful, motivating statement that is centered to attract not just athletes but the everyday person. It is used to motivate everyone from children in grade school to adults. Rhetorical appeals will be explored to show how Nike achieved a powerful message to send to its audience. The use of ethos, pathos, logos and Kairos were utilized to help send the message. Some appeals may not be as strong as others yet, the appeals that were strong are strategically used, made the piece and message positive. To begin with Nike strongly plays off of a pathos appeal. There is a lot of emotion in this piece. The audience sees a boy who is visibly struggling yet he is persevering. This sets off a series of emotions. The audience feels proud. He is not giving up, which can make a viewer emotional and let out tears of joy. The piece is motivating. The voice over saying things that can really stick with the on looker. “Greatness is no more unique to us than breathing. We are all capable of it, all of us.” It gives off a sensation of hope. Most sporting commercials have a super fit athlete, yet this commercial features a real person who is more relatable to most of the population. It proves that you do not have to be an all- star to have a defining moment of greatness. The whole piece is uplifting and inspiring. Nike did not do anything flashy with this commercial, yet made it a simple, relatable, and emotionally charged, which strikes a deeper chord with their viewers. To build on its rhetorical appeal, Nike effectively uses Kairos to its advantage. The commercial aired during the summer of 2012 during the summer Olympic Games in London. The Olympics are inspiring in itself. Yet all the athletes are super athletic and they are considered the best of the best. Nike airing this commercial gives the average viewer the motivation to get up and to begin to find their moment of greatness regardless of what their athletic ability is. Nike is not promoting people to get off the couch and they can be an Olympic athlete. They are encouraging people that no matter what their goal is, that can be a moment of greatness. There was no better place or time to release this commercial than during the Olympic Games. Out of all the different athletic companies promoting their brand at the time, Nike’s different approach set their brand apart from the others. There were millions of viewers. This commercial, and the campaign as a whole, separated itself from the pack. This commercial was more focused on selling a journey rather than selling a product. Sure the boy could have been wearing Nike clothing, which isn’t apparent but can be assumed. There is clear subliminal advertising, which Nike does want you to use buy their clothing, and use their Nike+ services to keep track and to measure your performance levels. These tools are promoted beyond the commercial on social media hubs. Since the commercial is promoting more of the journey, it is believed that they do have a strong sense of ethos in the commercial. The credibility lies within the fact that they are ushering people of all kinds to set up their own personal goal. They have an ordinary boy who may be more relatable to the viewers at home, than if they would have used LeBron James. Nike’s cofounder Bill Bowerman said, “‘if you have a body you're an athlete…” (Nike 2012)". In this case and for this commercial, they did not have to hire a big name. We all have bodies, therefore we are all athletes, even though we have different abilities. This commercial isn’t promoting weight loss or Gatorade. In those types of commercials we see brands shelfing out big money to star athletes to promote their product or services creating logical fallacies. There is no professional “goal definer” that could have upped the credibility. Every person is responsible for setting up their own personal goals, and is a “professional” at defining what their moment of greatness is.