Win The Day

The game of football has changed incredibly over the past few decades in many ways. Yes, obviously guys have gotten bigger, faster, stronger, and smarter, however what about image? I have noticed that over time as my football carreer developed, the many pressures of image have also increased. Advertising companies such as Nike have taken over the television screen, the malls front windows, billboards, and even have created collegiate football teams into advertisments themselves. Nike takes pride in there many mottos which include "just do it", "dont back down", "unstoppable", but does it ever talk about how the gear or equipment actually effects better play? The answer is no. There ads focus more on how flashy and state of the art there designs are, the color and texture of the new material, or the creativity of the new logos, but it never really talks about better preparing the players in the field of play.

Here at School we have been discussing how much we dislike the look, feel, and style of our uniforms and equipment. Although not all guys dislike it, the majority of the team would prefer to have Nike instead of the current sponsorship we have today, or rather any other brand? Why is it that the guys only want Nike? Is it because of the constant advertisment that we are bombarded with in commercials, at local sporting good stores, or even the fact that majority of the teams we face all have brand new Nike uniforms? I strongly believe that its a little bit of both. Some have suggested other sponsorship ideas such as Addidas, Under Armor, which are cheaper and just as good of quality to help with performance on the field. However, guys on the team are very set on there ideas that Nike is the only and best way to go.



Addidas Football



  

So im sure at this point the question is why does it matter that our guys want only want Nike and are not open to other and even possibly better oppurtunities. First off, the fact that Nike has not only taken control of almost every form of advertisment possible, has created a way to target a very large audience, as well as persuaded athletes based upon its new equipment and uniforms, that Nike is the superior brand for football. Like many of my teamates who would spend extra money on a swoosh and not on actual better equipment, the world today does the same thing by focusing so much on the logo or brand itself that it almost forgets about the fact that the equipment or logo on it does not perform for the individual.
  

Under Armour Football



Karl Marx in his book "The Fetishism of Commodities" as well as Naomi Klein focus on many issues similar to this one in very interesting ways. Starting with Karl Marx, he believes that "exchange value" is in a sence derived from the laour of man or human kind. Although this could be very true and very agreeable, I strongly believe that in regards to Nike the logo and perception of the compnay really dictates the value and the price that people will pay for it.





Nike Pro Combat



Naomi Klein on the other hand has a different illustration of her views on logo and advertisments in todays culture. Rather than focusing on marketing a specific item or product, she instead portrays how companies use images or words to portray there object as being superior or the best. In regards to Nike the examples of this could go on for days. From "just do it" to "change the playing field forever" to "win the day" to even "win forever", all of these images and texts are persuasive and have very much control of the audience that views them. When thinking of football in todays culture, the first thing people think about is Nike. However when thinking about Nike, the first thing people think about are things such as Oregon, Tiger Woods, or Michael Jordan. Im sure at this point you may be asking yourself why this may be, and in my opinion I strongly believe that its because Nike truly represents the sport of football in todays society. 

Oregon University Football Nike Ad

The fact that Addidas  and Under Armor both have high quality equipment and performance gear, but get less public praise is somewhat humorous. When thinking about Americans and society today its safe to say that most of us are looking for a "bargain" or a huge deal", however Nike in many ways attracts millions of people to purchase there over priced materials simply because of a swoosh the size of toothepick. So how are we suppose to change our perception of the persuasive and over powering love for Nike products? In my opinion we as athletes and people who purchase Nike materials should really look into other products that are offered by other companies because there are so many other logos and brands out there than function and perform just as good if not better than Nike products.