Nike has championed male-born competitors in women’s sports for years, which is why its Super Bowl ad paying tribute to female athletes was accused of being hypocritical, not to mention a few decades behind the times.
The sportswear giant unveiled its “So Win” brand motto during the game Sunday with an ad predicated on the assumption that girls and women are discouraged from excelling at sports.
The ad featured women’s sports stars such as Jordan Chiles, Caitlyn Clark, Sha’Carri Richardson and A’ja Wilson.
“Whatever you do, you can’t win. So win,” says the rapper Doechii, who narrates the one-minute black-and-white commercial.
Critics called the ad’s message outdated. Not only have female sports grown in popularity, but the ad ignores the biggest current issue in women’s athletics: the rise of biological males competing based on gender identity.
“Nike ignored the elephant in the room and instead took on a straw man,” said XX-XY Athletics, a brand that supports single-sex female sports.
A week before the Super Bowl, XX-XY Athletics released a video ad called “Real Girls Rock” featuring University of Nevada Reno volleyball player Sia Liilii and others accused of being “transphobes” for calling foul on competing against male-born athletes.
“At XX-XY Athletics, we’ve been challenging Nike to do the right thing and stand up for the protection of women’s sports and female athletes. We hit a nerve. Nike clearly felt forced to respond,” Jennifer Sey, founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, told The Washington Times.
“They’re late and they got it wrong. The threat to women’s sports is males entering them,” she said. “That’s the sexism at play — telling women to sit down and accept men stealing their trophies. Not whatever made up the 20-year-old ghost Nike is fighting in that ad.”
Those praising the Nike ad included Brittaney Kiefer, Adweek creative editor, who commended its artistic style and called it “the best Super Bowl ad of the year.”
“I appreciate that Nike has given the stage to women in a male-dominated arena – and at a time when bro culture dominates the political sphere and seeps into advertising,” said Ms. Kiefer in her Monday column. “While other brands have recently dialed back their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Nike holds firm.”
Indeed, Nike has sided for years with transgender athletes. In 2021, Nike aired an ad celebrating the first biological male in Argentina’s women’s professional soccer league.
In 2022, Nike issued a “Be True” toolkit featuring transgender swimmer Lia Thomas that called for transgender athletes to have the opportunity to be “their authentic selves.”
The company also filed an amicus brief opposing Idaho’s 2020 ban on male-born competitors in female scholastic sports.
Former NBC Sports broadcaster Michelle Tafoya applauded Nike for showcasing women’s sports, then added, “But where have you been, @Nike?”
“And by the way — it’s been AGES since people said women can’t draw crowds, can’t be emotional, can’t win,” Ms. Tafoya wrote on X. “You’re about a decade behind.”
The NFL, which hosted Super Bowl LIX, was also accused of being culturally oblivious for promoting its flag football league with an ad showing high school girls beating boys at flag football.
“Girls are better at football than boys,” an incredulous Clay Travis summarized the ad’s message.
“I thought this ad was woke satire, it was that bad,” the OutKick founder wrote on X. “NFL needs to fire the marketing team that made this, embarrassing.”
The “So Win” ad, Nike’s first Super Bowl commercial since 1998, comes with Nike seeking to increase the brand’s relevance after a year in which the company struggled with slowing growth and a declining stock price.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.