New Nike Ad Calls Serena "Greatest Athlete Ever," Removing Gender From Conversation

Nike in its latest 60-second spot deems Serena Williams "the 'greatest athlete ever' (after striking the word female from its own onscreen copy)," according to Kristina Monllos of ADWEEK. Nike used a Williams press conference from Wimbledon "as inspiration" for the spot. Williams was asked "how she felt about going down in the history books as 'one of the greatest female athletes of all time.'" She responded, "I prefer the words 'one of the greatest athletes of all time.'" Nike in the new spot "goes a step further." The ad, part of Nike's "Unlimited" series from Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, is "a celebration of all that makes Williams great, timed to the U.S. Open." The creative is "very stripped down, which works, though it might have benefited from more visuals matching the captions" (ADWEEK.com, 9/1). YAHOO SPORTS' Jackie Bamberger noted words "flash on the screen during the minimalistic minute-long ad, documenting Williams’ journey from the courts of Compton, Calif., to 22 Grand Slam titles and all the highs and lows in between." At the end of the ad, "the words 'greatest female athlete ever' appear for a brief moment before the phrase is altered to read 'greatest athlete ever'" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/1). Williams said, "I really feel vindicated that a company so big as Nike can recognize just athletes and not put a sex behind it" (N.Y. POST, 9/2).