The latest ad video of Nike Japan showcasing women athletes and other minorities, like people from Korean descent, getting bullied and facing racism has prompted a heated debate on social media. The two-minute video, which shows the real-life experience of three women soccer players of mixed race, has not gone well with the Twitterati and they called it out.
The commercial with the tagline, “Keep Moving: Yourself, the Future,” released on November 30 and shows several teen girls getting bullied and facing racial discrimination in school, however, they are united by a desire to cope with their problems and prove themselves through their ability and love for soccer.
動かしつづける。自分を。未来を。#YouCantStopUshttps://t.co/EEkOkOOeLt pic.twitter.com/aPnZcPAO05— Nike Japan (@nikejapan) November 28, 2020
Ever since the video has been shared on the microblogging site, it has garnered over 16 million views and 21,700 retweets along with tons of mixed reactions. While many users slammed the brand said that the ad has misrepresented Japanese society, some have called it a good move. One of the users tweeted to Nike and asked them not to portray Japan as a bad Country and said the he would never buy Nike shoes.
Nike don't portray Japan as a bad Country! , I never buy Nike shoes anyway.. ASICS/Onitsuka tiger are way better! https://t.co/ao2L2bPbXH— ニュージー男子 (@NewZeaDanshi) November 30, 2020
Another user tweeted to call out Nike Japan.
Nike Japan called out the whole of Japan and I'm here for it. https://t.co/Zja3rqlaXW— AfroInJapan (@AfroInJapan) November 30, 2020
One of the netizens shared a picture of 2019 soccer team featuring players from different races and asked the brand to stay from politics and don’t raise a problem that doesn’t really exist. He also wrote that Japan doesn’t discriminate against other people from other countries.
Nike’d stay from politics and don’t raise a problem that doesn’t really exist. Of course, sometimes teens are bullies.Japan doesn’t discriminate against other people from other countries.Look at the 2019 team, a melting pot and the team was loved during the games. https://t.co/Togtg3nQ0b pic.twitter.com/I8DtjlGUXp
— Dr. Alexandre Hillairet, DAOM (@DrHillairet) November 29, 2020
A netizen called it “too much”, adding that Japanese don’t do discrimination like it is shown in the commercial.
It’s too much…. I’m so sad to make this movie, Nike. Japanese don’t do the discrimination like this movie…..— おれりー (@oreiii2) November 28, 2020
Some other user tweeted that Nike portrays as if there are lots of racial discrimination in Japan, however, that’s not true.
NIKE portrays as if there are lots of racial discrimination in Japan, but that's not correct at all.— ©️.. (teamもふもふ) (@StandupN) November 30, 2020
Here are some more tweets :
It's hypocritical, because Nike uses slave labor to make its shoes— King Of Kek (@JakeSteal1) November 30, 2020
The Japanese do not tolerate discrimination so openly. It's a terrible commercial. What does Nike want to convey? I'll be sad.— symphonic24@ (@symphonic241) November 30, 2020
Nike Japan’s new ad is pretty awesome https://t.co/7MXt6pWnQx— Amod Sugiyama (@amod_sugiyama) November 30, 2020
I'm so proud at Nike for drawing more attention the the issue of racism in Japan.— Morifawn (@morifawn) December 1, 2020
Nike hitting Japan with the realness #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/OOL2Yy8CQ9— Dan Castellano (@ninja_padrino) November 30, 2020
Meanwhile, Nike Japan reacted to all the tweets and captioned the commercial as, “The power of sports is not just on the pitch. If we all work together, the future will be more open to us.”
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