Gold medal favorite Liu Xiang's withdrawal from the 110-meter hurdles in Beijing due to Achilles tendon injury crushed a lot of his fans and left corporate sponsors in an unfortunate position. How did they react? According to the Wall Street Journal, with "sympathy and support:"
On Tuesday, Nike took out full-page ads in China Daily and some other publications meant to address Mr. Liu's misfortune. The ad features a tight closeup of Mr. Liu with text that includes among other sentiments: "Love sport even when it breaks your heart." At the bottom was Nike's customary "Just Do It" tagline. "We see it as a real 'Just Do It' moment," a Nike spokesman said.
The WSJ's China Journal reproduces the ad with its translation: Love Competition Love risking your pride Love winning it back Love giving it everything you’ve got Love the glory Love the pain Love sport even when it breaks your heart
Sports company advertising places an emphasis on victories with good reason, because winning sells. But to turn it around and acknowledge that defeats (or setbacks) are also part of sport, something to work through, makes an awful lot of sense to me — as it's something we can all relate to. Well, all of you. Not me.
Via PSFK. Image from the WSJ by Andrew Lih.
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The right thing to do by Nike. I like it. Works well, turn a negative to a positive. Never give up. Very on brand.
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