Nike store - Research Paper Example

Nike is involved in sponsoring famous athletes and high profile sports figures all over the world. These include baseball players such as Michael Jordan and Steve Nash, tennis players such as Jim Courier, James Blake, Serena Williams, world’s top golf players such as Tiger Woods among others. It has also sponsored world leading football clubs such as Brazil, France and Portugal and other minor events such as high school ball games. Nike has created a number of print and television advertisements in order to establish the credibility of its name.

Advertisements may not only serve as a sales tool but may also serve a rhetorical purpose of credibility, persuasion and logic. The most famous advertisement campaign was the “Just do it” campaign. This advertisement consists of a logo of a swoosh sign and a slogan with a tag line titled “Just do it”. The slogan is strategically positioned next to the logo. The logo and the tag line are used to represent Nike’s goals and achievement of victory. They serve as icons that represent action and excellence, terms in which any human society can use to relate to.. According to the readings of Arnheim, Barthes and McCloud, the logo and slogan do not represent some kind of image, but rather, give a description of the functions fulfilled by the images.

The swoosh logo and the tag line stand for a particular content without visually reflecting its features (Arnheim). The slogan “Just do it” sounds simple but definitely has a deeper meaning meant to evoke reaction in a human being. In a broader sense, it can be seen to mean don’t think, talk or ask about it just do it. The visual display of the swoosh logo next to it complements this motto (Barthes). These two iconic features can be used to encourage sports figures who may face pressure from their teams.

It encourages them to