Nike's latest inclusive ad featuring Muslim women trumps Donald's hate

By
Web Desk

February 24, 2017

Nike's latest inclusive ad featuring Muslim women trumps Donald's hate

An online commercial released by Nike this week shows Arab women fencing, boxing, and spinning on ice-skates in an attempt to smash stereotypes about women leading home-bound lives.

It begins with a woman peering out of her doorway, and adjusting her veil before going for a run in the street, while a female voice narrates: "What will they say about you? Maybe they'll say you exceeded all expectations."

Within 48 hours the video was shared 75,000 times on Twitter and viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube.

 

 

Sara al-Zawqari, a spokeswoman for the International Red Cross in Iraq, on Twitter lauded the sports gear company's effort, adding that such moves become "an empowerment tool rather than just a product."

Filmed in the older, rundown suburbs of the glitzy Gulf Arab emirate of Dubai, the ad reflects the struggles faced not only by women across the region but also by some of its own stars.

Amal Mourad, a 24-year old Emirati parkour athlete shown leaping across rooftops, told Reuters her father was reluctant at first to let her train in a gym where men were present.

"Convincing my father was the toughest part ... if you want something bad enough you stick to it, and you can get it done," said Mourad, who now teaches classes in a mixed gender gym.

 

 

Twitter didn't stay back in appreciating Nike's commercial.

 

 

Sports sociologist Holly Thorpe commented that it will lead to more discussions on women empowerment.

 

 

Jason Bordoff, who has served as an energy advisor to former President Obama, termed it "great."

 

 

A stand-up comedian lauded the fact that Muslims were "finally [in] an ad for our region."

 

 

Even Arab men are voicing their support.

However, criticism, as always, seeped in for the latest commercial. One hater shamed Nike, saying that it doesn't properly represent Arab women, as they "do not wear a hijab and go running in the streets." Another just labelled it as "an utter fail."

There were some who raised concerns about the inclusivity of the ad, asserting that non-Arab Muslim women were not featured in it. Others brought accusations of employing child labour against Nike back to argue that the company is not ethical.

The ad's message may also tap into an emerging new market for Arab women chafing at hidebound social norms and an entertainment industry that often relegates them to docile roles.

"We need to start driving the conversation away from Arab women being subjects of segregation, or oppression ... and more towards them being enablers, achievers and go-getters," said Dubai advertising executive Nadim Ghassan.

(Initial reporting by Reuters)