Within the past 12 months, Nike has released two progressive commercials. One on Sept. 7, 2018 featuring Colin Kaepernick among other athletes who have broken barriers and done something “crazy,” and the other on Sunday, Feb. 25 about women who have specifically been labelled as“crazy.” Now, Nike is going to make bank because of it.

I love this new commercial. Some people have a problem with Nike making commercials that have a social influence rather than sticking to what they know, which is sports equipment. But, through the connectedness of the world, a large company would be led astray if they didn’t take a stand on some issues.

The commercial that came out in September 2018 shows where Nike stands on the issue of police brutality against African Americans because of the use of Colin Kaepernick as the narrator. On March 3, 2017 Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers. He has been a free agent since. Because he stood up for what he believed in and protested during the national anthem by kneeling, he has since been kept from participating in his chosen field.

Nike knew what they were doing in September and they know what they’re doing now by releasing  the Serena Williams commercial on Sunday.

Women are rising and Nike is recognizing that. It’s inspiring to watch this commercial. As a female athlete myself, I want to run harder, score more and hit harder when I watch this commercial. With this commercial, Nike changes the connotation of “crazy.” Nike makes it seem like women want to be called crazy. If what you’re doing as a woman isn’t crazy, then you aren’t breaking barriers. Nike urges women to do things that are considered “crazy” by naysayers.

One day I hope to have a daughter who is so empowered to go out and be herself and make her presence known that these commercials won’t be necessary, but, for the time being, young women are rising and this commercial encourages this trend to continue.

Even if I had a son, I would continue to buy Nike because sons need to respect female athletes as well. Strong women are currently becoming mothers. The women that grew up benefitting from Title IX are of the age where they’re having children and these children are going to grow up respecting female athletes or being female athletes themselves. If these women are anything like me, they will continue to buy Nike for their children because they stand for something and aren’t secretive about it.

This generation more than any other has the buying power to mess with a company. With the power of the internet any consumer can look up where a company stands on social issues or if their products are ethically sourced if that’s what matters to them. Consumers make their buying decisions based upon these facts and if one company doesn’t stand for what the consumer does, then that consumer will choose a different company.

The way that Nike has positioned itself through these two commercials makes it seem that they’ve basically hand-picked their consumers. They know who they want to be connected with. And those people are women and progressives. Nike’s gear is cutting edge and so are the ideas of their spokespersons.