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Location: NY

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Nike Women feel so pretty

I just can't stop with this blogging thing! Since I just did an old(ish) favorite, now I'm going to write about a commercial I saw for the first time a couple days ago while I was watching sports center. Here's the ad:

Maria Sharapova Nike Ad


Summary: The ad follows Maria Sharapova as she makes her way from her hotel room to a tennis match. As she goes (sulking the whole time), everyone she passes- from the hotel's staff to the ball girl on the court- sings a line or two from West Side Story's "I Feel Pretty". They all stop once she starts playing tennis and makes one of those grunt noises. The announcers say "wow" and then the crowd cheers and Maria S settles down to kick some ass.

I guess this ad is supposed to make us realize that although a Nike Woman may look gorgeous on the outside, shes really all strength and athleticism once she starts to do her thing. I suppose this was supposed to make me want to but nike clothing or shoes but really, all it did was make me want to be Maria Sharapova.

The thing that makes this commercial hilarious is the people singing. The song is a perfect song for any comedy cause it's just so stupid. I was in West Side Story once and the director let us know that he hated "I Feel Pretty" and mused about how to cut it from the show for a long time but it just had to stay because it was one bright moment in a series of dark dark things. And dark is no good for a musical. Nor for a commercial.

Anyway, the great part is the people who are singing the song. My very favorite is the ballgirl with braces. She has a super voice (unlike the other people in the commercial) and normally that would seem stupid but she has braces so I'm glad she can sing well if she has to be on TV in braces.
Also great are the following-
The elevator man who's totally checking her out
The rich old couple in the hotel lobby
the paparazzi!
the announcers
the camera man with the beard
the tennis official who looks like hes making a call but is actually singing
I really hate the reporter as shes walking into the stadium who sings "whos the pretty girl in that mirror there" kinda for the opposite reason I like the ballgirl. The reporter has a terrible voice but isnt nearly attractive enough to make up for that.

All in all, this is a hilarious commercial although not very effective in selling its stuff.

oh ps I just realized the character who sings this in WSS is named Maria, just like Maria Sharapova!

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