Gawker: Nike

Fat, Lazy Americans Will Soon Have Shoes That Tie Themselves

Brian Moylan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:10:07 EDT

Footwear innovator Nike has seen the future, and it is a world where everyone is so fat, they can't tie their own laces. They've filed a patent for self-tying sneakers. Did they miss the invention of Velcro? More »

Only Pseudoscience Can Save America From Obesity

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:06:02 EDT

In the last three years, the ranks of the American obese have grown by 2.4 million people. This, despite greater access to magical butt-toning shoes than ever before. If only there were another corporate behemoth to motivate us, technomagically? More »

More People Watched Parodies of the Tiger Woods Ad Than the Real Thing; Nike Loves It

Adrian Chen — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:13:20 EDT

Last week, 2.3 million people saw Nike's controversial Tiger Woods ad online. But 1.3 million of those views were for parodies. Of the ad's 11.2 million total online views, a full 5.7 million—51%—were for parodies. And Nike is loving it! They told YouTube's Biz Blog: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We love when people engage and participate in the storytelling. Any confident brand should be." [AdAge] More »

Stephen Colbert Finds Better Voiceovers For Tiger's Nike Commercial

Henry Baker — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:16:17 EDT

Last night Stephen took a crack at putting different voiceovers on the Tiger's new Nike Ad. Oddly enough, the Leave It To Beaver and Young Frankenstein pep talks are more appropriate than the original. More »

Tiger Woods Tames the Cnt, Respects the Cck

Matt Cherette — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:40:43 EDT

You know that new Tiger Woods Nike commercial, in which his father chastises him? Well, it's already been mashed up with Tom Cruise's famous "Tame the cunt... respect the cock!" speech from Magnolia—and it's way better. Video inside. More »

Nike's New Ad Puts Tiger in His Place

Etan Berkowitz — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:42:22 EDT

Tiger Woods has been a magnet for insults, parody and embarrassment the past few weeks, and rightly so. In Nike's new ad, it's their turn to take a jab at their sponsored sports hero with Tiger's dad, Earl Woods, leading the onslaught. More »

The Tiger Woods Sponsorship Dance Card: Two Down, Six to Go

Foster Kamer — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:15:00 EST

Not that it was hard to see this coming, but The Business That Is Tiger Woods is starting to lose a grip on its multinational corporate backers. In fact, ~~one~~ two of them have gone down! Can you guess who? More »

Chris Brown Will Not Tolerate Oprah's Lip

Andrew Belonsky — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:59:17 EDT

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Chris Brown has words for Oprah, Susan Boyle's songs are beating Whitney and Russell Crowe wants to beat a gossip columnist. Oh, yes, it's your Friday morning Gossip Roundup. More »

Anna Disappoints; The September Issue Backlash

cityfile — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:40:00 EDT

• The Carolina Herrera dress that Anna Wintour wore on Dave Letterman's show this week? She wore it to the CFDA Awards back in June. Uh oh! [Stylelist] More »

Dreier Victims Revealed

cityfile — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:19:00 EDT

The names of Marc Dreier's victims were released by a judge yesterday. Three hedge funds—Elliot Associates, Fortress Investment Group, and Eric Mindich's Eton Park Management—were at the top of the list of investors who were defrauded by the imprisoned lawyer. But a bunch of fashion/retail companies were swindled, too, including Nike, Adidas, Diesel USA, Tommy Hilfiger, and COOGI Partners, the company that controls Fubu and Heatherette. Let it be said, however, that Hilfiger and Heatherette founder Richie Rich almost certainly had nothing to do with the homeless look Dreier was rocking in the days after he was arrested. Men who commit financial crimes just have a tendency to commit fashion ones, too, that's all. [Crain's] More »

Still With The Balls-In-Face Ads, Nike?

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:01:58 EDT

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So earlier this summer, Nike upset certain gays and their allies with an ad showing a basketball player dangling his balls in another guy's face, bearing the slogan "That Ain't Right." And everybody got so pissy about it that the company pulled the ad, which even we were surprised by. But that was just one in a series of similar Hyperdunk ads—and what's the point of pulling it when, as Copyranter points out, other ads in the campaign that are still on display might be considered even worse?* EWWW: More »

Just Us, Or Does Nike's New Slogan For Women Conjure Bad Sex?

Moe — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:41:54 EDT

Nike is one of those companies that can be irritatingly press shy when you want to write about them but gets antsy if the media ignores it for too long —a case in point being the Olympics — because they have some superstition by which they must spend 11% of their sales on pointless exercises of what it calls "demand creation." (This is like funding one and a half 2008 presidential campaigns every year!) And so because Nike employs a lot of hypercompetitive, marathon-runner-type overachievers all hopped up on Portland caffeine and suffering from a profound lack of purpose*, every few years someone there decides "Just Do It" is not doing it anymore somehow. More »

Google touts charity-race win, ignore injured competitor, charity

Jackson West — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Team Google, stocked with runners from company outposts across the country, finished third out 147 corporate teams in the Hood to Coast relay race sponsored by Nike. The course takes runners from Mount Hood to the Pacific Ocean through Oregon. Team Yahooligans? They finished 140th. Google proudly touted the efforts of the team on the official corporate blog. Fast, sure, but were the ultracompetitive Googlers good sports? More »

Cable News and the Convention in Denver

cityfile — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:03:00 EDT

NBC is leading the ratings with its coverage of the DNC. [TVDecoder]
The picture isn't so rosy at the New York Times. Revenues dropped 10 percent in July, largely because of the housing slump. [Bloomberg]
Denise Richards' bid for stardom just got a bit more complicated. Her reality show on E! has been canceled after a single season. [NYP]
Jon Stewart says Fox News is a "brutish, slow-witted beast." Fox News says Stewart is "out of touch." [Gawker ]
It took months but it seems Rafael Nadal has finally decided on a new look—in partnership with marketing execs at Nike, of course. [WSJ]
Amanda Lepore is appearing in a new ad campaign for Jawbone Bluetooth headsets. [Copyranter]
A guide to the nastiest feuds on cable news. [Gawker]

Rafael Nadal Latest Celeb To Regret Looking So Totally Hot In That Magazine

Moe — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:32:51 EDT

Newsbreak: Spanish tennis champion Rafael Nadal regrets posing topless for New York Magazine. Look, I didn't actually know who Rafael Nadal was before he posed topless for New York Magazine except that he is an Olympic athlete and now he has broken the record for shortest length of time between the appearance of said photo on newsstands and the supposed expression of dismay that said photo would ever appear on newsstands. "He is fine with being a sex symbol," a "source" tells MSNBC gossip Courtney Hazlett. "but New York took it a bit further than he was comfortable with."* Oh Jesus Christ. More »

Rafael Nadal: Mature In Neon

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:29:54 EDT

You thought that Rafael Nadal's pensive, shirtless pose on the back cover of New York magazine last week was just one more coup by the mag's upscale media trendsetters? Think again! Nadal himself—or, more accurately, his corporate overseer Nike—is in the midst of remaking his entire image, shifting it from that of a wild young ball-slinger to something "more mature" (and better able to sell polo shirts). The first casualty: his capri pants. Sorry, ladies: More »

Nike Lies About Demanding Hunt Of Chinese Critic

Ryan Tate — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:13:54 EDT

Someone is lying at Nike. The only question is who. The mystery surrounds how the shoe company approached the thuggish Chinese dictatorship over online rumors about an athlete it sponsors. No one disputes that Nike, which recently claimed its shoes have "become an icon of self-expression and a symbol of Democratic style," ran to the repressive regime in a snit. Someone claiming to be close to Nike had issued an anonymous Web post claiming the company forced Liu Xiang, pictured, to exit the games because he was unlikely to win. This echoed tampering allegations Nike also faced in Brazil. Does Nike want the poster hunted down and thrown in jail? Hunted down and unmasked, so he can be sued? Or simply handled by the Chinese government in whatever manner it feels appropriate? No one has any idea, because Nike keeps changing its story — and digging itself into a deeper hole. More »

The Week in Parties

cityfile — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:36:00 EDT

1) At the New York premiere of spy thriller Traitor at the Regal Union Square last night, the film's stars Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Said Taghmaoui, and Mozhan Marno walked the red carpet along with director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Busta Rhymes, Jesse Williams, Estelle, Aubrey O'Day, and Nicole Miller. [NYO/Wireimage] More »

Nike Teams with King

cityfile — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:26:00 EDT

Nike has recruited Don King—yes, that Don King—to promote next week's US Open. The "Grapple in the Apple" even gave sport's biggest stars new names: Roger "The Magician of Precision" Federer and Rafa "Matador of Spin" Nadal. [AdAge] More »

Nike Will Buy Your Puny Magazine Cover

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:26:37 EDT

Running a free monthly magazine about outdoor sports in the New York area is probably not the most lucrative niche in the media, so it's perfectly understandable that a publisher would want to look for some creative ways to sell ad space. But selling the entire front cover for a product placement? That may be the point at which you cease to be an actual magazine. Although that didn't stop Metrosports NY from doing it: More »

Jeff Zucker Is a Nike Man

cityfile — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:09:00 EDT

The L Word's Way To Play For Pay

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:54:09 EDT

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THe L Word doesn't show any ads, because it's on Showtime. But now the show popular with lesbians and non-lesbians alike has done something that will either become the future standard of television, or destroy the show forever: it has given its writer and creator the power to "control all brand integration" in the show. That means the writer, rather than the ad people, will be selling the product placements and determining how they play out. And it may become the de facto place for bad companies looking to make sweet $300,000 advertising love with the gay audience: More »

From The Mailbag

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:17:12 EDT

"Re. Nike Ad!!! You are all scum and should be exterminated. You are what is wrong with the world and we would all be much happier with you all being stoned to death, slowly." The problem there is, you're still going to offend the anti-stoning crowd. More »

Learning A Lesson: Five Ads That Died For Their Sins

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:37:08 EDT

Perhaps you've heard the news that Nike has pulled its "That Ain't Right" balls-in-face ads after an outpouring of outrage sparked largely by this very website (though we weren't the first to address it). Are you proud of yourselves, commentariat? You are feared in all corners of corporate America. But the larger point here is that advertising is getting to be a very touchy business; companies are making fools of themselves nearly every week because of the crackheaded work of one of their ad agencies. After the jump, we look at five ads that had to be yanked recently, where they went wrong, and who came out ahead. Read and learn: More »

Fox Business, Bob Novak and Brangelina

cityfile — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:49:00 EDT

Remember back when News Corp.'s Roger Ailes promised that Fox Business would crush CNBC? It turns out the upstart network is attracting 8,000 viewers during daytime hours, compared to CNBC's average of 250,000 or more. [NYO]
Right-wing columnist Robert Novak has a good excuse for running over a pedestrian last week: He's suffering from a brain tumor. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Mark Whitaker has been named NBC News's Washington bureau chief. [TVNewser]
Bonnie Fuller on Barack and Michelle Obama: They're turning themselves into the "Brangelina of the political world." [AdAge]
Nike is stirring up controversy with a new ad campaign that many find homophobic. [AdFreak]

Gays Scare Snickers Into Pulling Mr. T Ad

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:01:20 EDT

The PC joke police are steamrolling testosterone-based advertising! First Nike had to pull its "Air Stab" sneakers out of stores in the UK because people thought they were encouraging unrestrained knife crime. Not a week later, Nike found itself under assault by gays and their internet sympathizers over an ad showing a basketball guy hanging his nuts in another guys' face, with the slogan "That Ain't Right." And now the rising pro-homo chorus has forced Snickers to pull its ad in which Mr. T shoots a speed walker (and gay caricature) with a gatling gun while screaming, "Get some nuts!" Oh, some people get insulted by every little thing. Couldn't they just have digitally inserted a thought balloon on the guy saying "NO HOMO"? Watch the too hot for PC ad yourself, after the jump: More »

Nike Pulls 'Air Stab,' UK Crime Rates Plummet

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:19:01 EDT

Poor Nike just cannot catch a break these days. First all the gays and their blog commenter followers got upset about Nike's new ads featuring a guy with his nuts in another guy's face, which some say are homophobic. (Nike's ad agency would like you all to STFU with your whining about that, BTW). And this controversy is distracting them from the process of pulling all their "Air Stab" shoes out of UK stores because the god damn Brits can't stop knifing each other! More »

Does Nike Hate Gays? Or Do Gays Hate Basketball?

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:55:36 EDT

Nike's new ad campaign for its Hyperdunk shoes features a series of pictures of basketball players getting dunked on in what's considered the worst way possible: the dunker dangling off the rim, his balls dangling in the face of the man being dunk-ee. They all have dynamic slogans like "That Ain't Right!" The company has been plastering them around NYC's most famous streetball meccas, like Harlem (home to The Rucker) and West 4th St. Their rollout coincides with a big foofaraw this week (which some critics say is stupid oversensitivity) over whether the ad industry is making blatantly homophobic ads. All of which raises the question: Are these Nike ads a new low in homophobic advertising? Or do the gays just not understand basketball? More »

Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, And Some Homeless Guy Who Looks Like Lance Armstrong All Went To Lunch

Molly Friedman — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:05:00 EDT

You know what the best part about dating Kate Hudson is? Not the fun beachside lunches with a jolly Goldie Hawn and doting “unidentified males.” Not the late-night games of Pin The Tail On The Boob with 9-year old Ryder. Nor is it collecting your winnings from that bet you made with Owen Wilson about who could land the ebuillient blonde. No, the most enjoyable benefit to following Hudson around town and forcing grin after grin is the dynamite opportunity to finally get photographed dutifully wearing clothes coincidentally fashioned by your lifestyle-sustaining sponsor! More »

Hollywood's New China Rule

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:24:25 EDT

Sharon Stone has finally apologized for her "inappropriate" comment that the recent massive Chinese earthquake was a product of "bad karma" for the country for its treatment on Tibet. She's sorry, okay! Nevertheless, fashion house Christian Dior announced that it's pulling all of its ads featuring the actress from all department stores, and the entire country of China. Though the comment itself was stupid, Stone's hasty retreat from her brash Tibet-championing—and Dior's even harsher public rebuke of her—are a great illustration of what is becoming the New China Rule: "Do Not Talk About The New China Rule." It's been de rigeur for top stars to prove their class by endorsing luxury brands, and to prove their morality by pontificating about Tibet. But guess what: pretty soon you're going to have to pick one or the other, Hollywood. And it's not looking good for the Dalai Lama. More »

No One Is Free When Nike Is Oppressed

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:56:17 EDT

Do you know what defines what it means to "be true?" That's right, Nike Dunks! Not only that, but that particular shoe "HAS BECOME AN ICON OF self-expression and a symbol of DEMOCRATIC STYLE." The Revolution is Basketball! Freedom is slavery! It's a Brave New World! Nike Dunks were introduced in 1985—if it had been 1984, people might be inclined to make jokes about its dystopian advertising rhetoric. Below, a full look at the amazingly dramatic prose on a flier promoting what is just a Nike-sponsored photography show, "in the spirit of the shoe that inspires those who dare to be different." [Hypebeast]. I'd hate to see them if they really get worked up. More »

Dustin Hoffman Hopes That Nobody Notices He Accidently Wore His Son's Sneakers

Douglas Reinhardt — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:00:16 EST

When 'Time Out' Seemed Like A Lifeline

Rod Townsend — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:40:38 EDT

Rod Townsend records the gays in and around their natural environment of Fire Island and reports back. This is the time, and this is the record of the time. Put your hands over your eyes. More »

The Pines Party

Rod Townsend — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:50:29 EDT

Eavesdropping on the gays is the surest way to find out what products and people are hot and what are not. Rod Townsend records the gays in and around their natural environment of Fire Island and reports back. All dialogue 100% verbatim. More »

Media Bubble: Air Imus

Doree Shafrir — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 10:00:13 EDT

Nike uses the Don Imus controversy for an ad campaign it hopes "will spark continued conversation about race in America." And sell sneakers. [AdAge] More »

When We See Jennifer Aniston We Think "Just Do It"

gdelahaye — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 11:10:36 EDT

While it's been rumored for some time, a deal between Nike and Jennifer Aniston appears to be on the verge of signature. The deal, sources say, may be the largest sum ever paid by the sportswear company for a celebrity endorsement.