Dawson Petkunas

English 101
Ms.Barrett
9/28/22

Dream with us ad Analysis

Introduction

The ad I chose was Nike's Dream with us. The commercial was uploaded on youtube

in early May of 2019 right before the female soccer tournament in France. The commercial

features female athletes who have broken barriers. The ad features many amateurs and

professional athletes such as Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Mallory Pugh who all played

for the US women’s national soccer team. Where they told us a story of what their dreams are.

What they’ve done in order to make that dream a reality. During this analysis, I will describe and

analyze such aspects as ethos, pathos, and logos. Then determine which strategy was used in

the commercial to conduct whether the ad was effective or not with either product marketing or

an overall message being depicted throughout the commercial. How does Nike use rhetorical

tools to market their brand not only as a clothing brand as a brand for athletes?

Description

The commercial starts with a youth women’s soccer team in the locker with the camera

angle inside the locker panning towards the girl as she opens her locker then it starts zooming

slowly towards the Nike logo on her jersey then it proceeds to the narrator asking, “What’s your

dream...” Who is actually award-winning actress Viola Davis. Who is using a strong powerful

tone. Then proceeds to show the team going outside to go for a team run in the winter. Since

there around you can see the snow all over the grass. As they run you can see the fog coming

out their mouths they breathe throughout their run. Then it pans out other teams also doing

similar showing their ethics of hard work. Through the ad, the narrator continues to ask

questions about what their dreams are. Throughout the ad, it shows many US women's teams

showing what they have done to make their dream come true. Then the narrator asked, “can

you be the generation that ends gender inequality...” While showing a women's basketball and a
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women's soccer running in a straight line. This shows the unity of the girls and to be greatest

you have to work together no matter the sport. Especially when it comes to a social construct

such as gender equality. Throughout the commercial in the background is a type of inspirational

music with the background sound of people practicing and cheering.

Towards the end of the ad, the narrator says “But the craziest dream of all is the one that starts

a million more.” Then shows one of the players running out to the field looking back and seeing

a younger girl’s soccer team running out behind and when she looks back the little girl stops and

makes eye contact with Mallory Pugh while Mallory looks back at her. You, the young soccer

player, eyes light almost like she just found what she wants to strive for as she gets older. Then

it pans outside of the stadium with Nike’s famous catchphrase “Just do it”.

In the commercial, it can appeal to many audiences but it truly targets young female athletes.

Since the commercial had many big names in female sports such as Alex Morgan and Gabby

Douglas. Through the commercial, the narrator, who is female, talks about dreams such as

ending the limitation of gender equality and being the first girl to play for the Yankees. Which

shows that the target audience is young women athletes.

Audience

This commercial appeals to the need to achieve. Throughout the whole, the narrator is talking

about the dreams of many young female athletes while they are practicing. In the while

showing the team practice it pans to elite women's athletes which means it was showing the

younger version of themselves what they were doing in order to achieve their dream.

Throughout the commercial, the narrator is talking about dreams that revolve around

accomplishments for women athletes such as “be the first girl to play for the Yankees...” and “do

you want to be a bigger athlete than Serena Williams...” These types of dreams cater or can

only be done if you’re a girl. The use of narration allows for the viewer to feel like they’re being

talked to and is able to engage that target audience of young female athletes.
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Analysis

In this Commercial, it has a big relation to pathos. In the commercial they are trying to get the

viewers’ emotions to become motivated. Throughout the commercial, the narrator has a strong

tone in order to get to the viewer while talking about a dream. Whether that dream may be to go

pro or be the first to do something that has never been done before. Which makes the

commercial more credible since it makes the viewer feel like the company views them as

someone who's capable of big things. Rather than feeling like they are being pushed to buy their

product so they can make more money.

The way the ad is set up makes the viewer feel like they can do anything as long as they work

hard. Since it shows the athlete going a step above everyone rather than just going to practice

and calling it day. It shows the athletes going out in the cold going for a run. In order to go a step

above everyone. When you go a step above everyone you start to produce greatness. That is

what the ad shows. When you work hard you not only achieve your dream you achieve the

greatness that not everyone can accomplish.

The commercial has many athletes that have accomplished such greatness. Which shows the

use of ethos. They had athletes such as Alex Morgan and Gabby Douglas. They went through

that process of working hard to achieve their dream. Since to achieve greatness you have to

work hard it’s not handed to you. You have to work for and go for the step beyond everyone

else.

The audience can see many instances of ethos to make the commercial very credible since the

commercial is about having a dream and chasing a dream. Who’s not better to use in a

commercial than an athlete since athletes are people who accomplished their dream through

hard work? While they spread that message they are also representing Nike. In the commercial,

they show pro skateboarder Lacey Baker skateboarding while she’s skateboarding. It pans out
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for a younger girl running out to her balcony to see what she sees? Her idol is someone she can

look up to as she grows. She looks up to her and strives to accomplish what Lacey has

accomplished.

Overall after analyzing the commercial they used ethos and pathos very effectively for a sports

commercial. Since when it comes to a sports commercial it relies on two things: who's in it and

how the viewer feels throughout the commercial. Which I believe Nike got right on the spot. At

the time athletes who were in the commercial were one of the biggest names in women’s sports

and sports in general. This really helps out Nike since people see the biggest names in sport

endorsing Nike. When it comes to emotions, what's a better emotion to target than motivation?

Motivation is the biggest thing that takes you the farthest in sports. In order to work hard, you

need to be motivated. Nike was able to fuel up the viewer with the motivation they didn’t know

they needed at the time. This amps up the effectiveness since now people will look at the

Company as a brand that wants their buyers to be motivated at all times just as the endorsers

as well.

Evaluation

The reason I chose this ad is that it isn't like all the other ad companies drop where they

promote their merchandise but they promote the dreams of people. After evaluating the

commercial overall I believe it was very effective. They were able to tell a story while using their

logo, also while motivating the viewer. When people see the Nike logo in a store they will see

them as the brand that wants them to follow their dream and strive for greatness. Through the

whole commercial, you know the theme from the get-go. Due to the narrator who kept the

viewer engaged while motivating them. Since the narration went perfectly with visuals of the

commercial since the narrator is talking about a dream then proceeds to show the upcoming

greatness of young athletes. Which I believe suits the commercial really well since the topic of

the commercial is all people’s dreams. Especially with the help of ethos and pathos it really

brought the commercial. Seeing athletes like Mallory Pugh and Alex morgan. People who have
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really shown the nation they are the greatest at what they do. The commercial flow really well

was about being able to get their message. The ad was straightforward with getting their

message across which allows the viewer to get hooked right away when the commercial is

played. Recommendation/Conclusion

I would recommend this brand to female athletes. Throughout the ad, it was targeting young

female athletes. At the time it was targeted towards any athlete because everyone can have a

dream they want to achieve. In this sense, it was mainly targeted towards young female athletes

who were looking for a bit of motivation they needed. I think they were able to bring that

motivation in a bold way by having many great names that young female athletes can look up

to. While they look at the ad he can also see how they are wearing Nike which will make the

viewer want to buy their product because of their favorite athletes. Who doesn't want to wear the

same clothes as their favorite athlete?

In conclusion, I believe the Nike commercial “Dream with us” was able to use Ethos and Pathos

to their advantage to make a very credible commercial. Through the commercial, you see

big names with a narrator hitting your emotions in order to motivate while having the Nike

throughout the commercial which always allows the viewer to connect the logo to the company

that wants them to strive and achieve their dream by a simple “just doing it”.