This advertisement features Neymar, one of the popular soccer players in the world, wearing the (then) new Nike Mercurial Vapor 8s. While explosions come from his footsteps, the slogan “explosive speed” is written beside him. The creators of this advertisement were the most shoe brand in the world, Nike.
The audience intended for this advertisement is clearly soccer players. Who else would buy soccer cleats? The potential customers are supposed to look at the explosions coming from Neymar’s feet and think “Those cleats will make me run faster!” and look at Neymar himself and think “I want to be like him, so I should buy the cleats he wears.” This ad was launched at the same time as Nike released the Mercurial Vapor 8s. At the time, these were their latest soccer cleats. In order to attract the attention of customers, Nike employed rhetorical devices like hyperbole and ethos. The phrase “explosive speed” written on the side of the advertisement, along with the explosions under Neymar’s feet, are used to indicate that the wearer will be able to accelerate faster hen wearing these particular cleats. Explosions can expand at rates of up to 10,000 meters per second, much faster than a human could ever imagine running, and so this is a hyperbole. Nike also employs the ethos of Neymar. They try to imply that if Neymar uses these cleats and he is one of the best players in the world, then we should use them too.
Nike’s add, while striking and admirable, is not very effective. Most of the audience knows that the only reason Neymar is wearing Vapor 8s is because Nike paid him too, and that does not make them any more appealing. Also, the “explosive speed” slogan is somewhat meaningless. The advertisement provides nothing to indicate that the cleats will actually make an athlete run faster. This advertisement is, like most of Nike’s, a way for them to flex their financial muscle.
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