People have become familiar with the typical formula used by sports companies to advertise their sporting goods on TV commercials. These advertisements usually consist of world-class athletes with impossible bodies using a specific sports product and illustrating its advantages over rival products. Although many of these companies are generally looked upon positively and have a large fan base including a number of people who swear by these products – they still fail to appeal to a large portion of the masses. Not everyone feels compelled to pay $200 for the world's most cutting edge running shoes that provide great orthopedic support and at the same time give feedback about how to improve your running technique. This however was not the case for Nike during the 2012 summer Olympics when they released their "Find your Greatness" Campaign across TV and Social media. Rather using all-star athletes the campaign consisted of a series of commercials with regular everyday athletes from around 25 countries indulging their sport of choice. And instead of showcasing a product Nike had a simple message about greatness "We are all capable of it. All of us." (Nike). The campaign was very well received by the global audience and trended across social media with the hashtag #FindGreatness. .
One Ad in the campaign called "The Jogger" particularly stood out from the rest. It became increasingly popular but not without its controversy (see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JnYcuRW_qo). The Ad exploded on YouTube and social media and was named the second best commercial of 2012 by AdWeekly magazine. It starts with a shot of a long empty road in the early hours of dawn. Its silent, a faint figure on the road is slowly shuffling towards the camera. As the figure approaches you begin to make out a 232 pound 12 year-old Nathan Sorrell. He's tired. He's sweaty. He's breathing heavily.