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I Train To Win: Remix Assignment

Kyra Aragon

Coastal Carolina University

RSM201-SD5-SD6 Gender and Sport

Dr. Kaunert

May 1, 2020
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Introduction

The goal of an advertisement in sport, or any advertisement really, is to dispense a

message or idea to the viewer. In this particular remix assignment, I chose an advertisement for

the company PUMA. PUMA is widely known for its athletic clothing and footwear that it sells

worldwide. Over the years they have sponsored many celebrities, such as artist Rihanna. In this

remix, I chose PUMA because of their lack to recognize skillful athletes, and their message to

young viewers that sex sells.

Analysis

When shopping on an athletic website, or in store, one would expect to see pictures of

professional athletes plastered across the store wearing the sponsors merchandise, right? For

PUMA, it’s all about the popularity of a person and the way their body can sell a product. This

seems to be true for the female advertisement, but for a male advertisement, athleticism is the

highlight of the ad. When browsing PUMA advertisements, I found that all the female ads were

of non-professional athletes and were focused on how the women’s body looks in the

merchandise. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for boasting body positivity in women, but what I

don’t understand is why have female celebrities’ model athletic clothing in a way that it’s not

used athletically? In the original artifact that I chose, Rihanna is pictured in PUMA sports bra

and sweatpants with the caption “WHAT ARE YOU TRAINING FOR?” I am caught off-guard

in this particular advertisement because one, Rihanna is not a professional athlete and two, she

isn’t seen training for anything athletically. In the other PUMA ads for women, the celebrities

Kylie Jenner, Cara Delevingne, and Selena Gomez are seen pictured in PUMA attire. The only

picture of the women that is close to being athletic is one of Kylie Jenner holding a basketball

even though she’s a social media influencer and does not play basketball professionally.
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On the other hand, the male PUMA ads are all athletic and focused on that aspect. A

popular male endorser for PUMA is track and field star Usain Bolt. In all of his ads, and all the

other male ads, they are seen doing something athletic or posing in their professional athletic

uniforms. This gives the message that the women aren’t “man” enough to model doing their

sport, even if they could. What I mean is, if PUMA had picked actual professional female

athletes, they could be pictured performing their sport and wearing the merchandise as well.

Remix

For my remix, I wanted to pick an actual athlete, and I wanted to pick someone that is

confident in themselves and gives off a good message. Naturally, Olympic figure skater Adam

Rippon came to mind. I can’t imagine the struggles that Rippon has overcome to be so successful

in a sport that is overly strict with its champions image. Male figure skaters, like Rippon, are

harassed for participating in a “female” sport and not owning up to their “masculine gender

ideology (Kaunert Homophobia in Sport).” While most male athletes choose to play a sport for

their family, or respect, some athletes do it for the pure thrill they get from performing it well

(Kaunert Triad of Men’s Violence).

Another reason I chose Rippon was because of his inspirational personality to be

unapologetically gay. His courage to come out and perform well in the Olympics has inspired

many others like him to follow in his footsteps. However not only does a gay athlete bring in

more diversity, but it also, unfortunately, scares off viewers of the sport. In a study done by

Emily Roper and Erin Halloran, they tested the effect that gay and lesbian athletes have on the

views of straight male and female student-athletes. In one of the results, straight men were found

to be more negative to gay male athletes and lesbian female athletes (Roper and Halloran). Due

to this shocking discovery, I wanted to highlight Rippon even more as my remix image.
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Another reason Rippon was my first choice, is because of the lack of recognition of gay

male athletes and also athletes of less popular sports in media. Sports, such as figure skating,

only received 3.4% of television coverage - collecting a minimum amount of recognition from

the media (Kaunert Gender and Sport Media (Television)). Also, just think about all the ads you

see. Can you think of one that a gay person is highlighted in?

The message that PUMA was portraying was unclear in the Rihanna ad. She is pictured

with her arms out wide spinning around in the merchandise. The caption that is placed right in

the middle of the photo is the question, “WHAT ARE YOU TRAINING FOR?” This question,

based off of the odd photo they chose, is not able to be answered and can be confusing to the

viewer. It’s almost as if PUMA is mistakenly leading the viewer into thinking that they may not

be training for anything, or don’t want to after seeing the inattentive ad. Thankfully, my remix

highlights the importance of training and gives the viewer a sense of direction and power. I first

edited a photo of Adam Rippon proudly hoisting the American flag across his shoulders; I then

changed Rihanna’s caption to a more direct quote that reads, “I TRAIN TO WIN.” The simple

act of changing a question to giving a firm answer is the difference between broke and rich.

Conclusion

As I reflect on this assignment, I realize that a lot of thought goes into preparing an

advertisement and how much one picture can speak to an entirety of people. Overall, I really

enjoyed researching different advertisements and expanding my mind on what key images

convey to people. I hope my remix of the artifact is substantial and that it radiates the right

message for people of all ages and all genders.

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Citations

Kaunert, Dr. (2020) Gender and Sport Media (Television) PPT

Kaunert, Dr. (2020) Homophobia in Sport PPT

Kaunert, Dr. (2020) Triad of Men’s Violence PPT

Roper, Emily, and Erin Halloran. “Attitudes Toward Gay Men and Lesbians Among

Heterosexual Male and Female Student-Athletes.” Springer Science, 2007,

www.link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-007-9323-0.