Nike's commercial solution: Girls, Sneakers, and Salvation

In this article I critically examine the ways in which Nike has situated itself as an active participant in current cultural conversations about girls' and women's participation in sport through three television commercials: “If you let me play', “There's a girl being born in America', and “The Fun Police'. In these advertisements, Nike positions itself as helping girls get a chance to play sports, helping them lead healthier and happier lives, helping them learn the rules of the game, and helping them to have fun. However, I argue that Nike's suggestion that girls can be empowered through sport (and through Nike's efforts) occurs within a framework of discourses appearing in the commercials that, in effect, constrains girls by representing them as lacking their own agency.