Out of Bounds: Nike Pulls Offensive Ad

by Caroline Pinder

Nike recently issued a magazine ad for a new shoe line that many, including myself, found offensive to the disabled person cause. I read about the ad and the controversy surrounding it in Ragged Edge magazine before I actually got a glimpse of it as it appeared in print.

The article states that Backpacker magazine, along with a number of other outdoor publications, printed the ad in their October 2000 issue, and in response to the many complaints they received, Nike released an apology October 24. In reading the ad and the apology, I was shocked to realize that such a statement had slipped through the hands of what must have been numerous executives and marketing specialists. The ad, for a new running shoe called the Air Dri-Goat, reads as follows:

Fortunately the Air Dri-Goat features a patented goat-like outer sole for increased traction so you can taunt mortal injury without actually experiencing it. Right about now you’re probably asking yourself, 'How can a trail running shoe with an outer sole designed like a goat’s hoof help me avoid compressing my spinal cord into a Slinky on the side of some unsuspecting conifer, thereby rendering me a drooling, misshapen non-extreme-trail-running husk of my former self, forced to roam the earth in a motorized wheelchair with my name embossed on one of those cute little license plates you get at carnivals or state fairs, fastened to the back?'

(To see the ad in its entirety, click here.)

I spoke to Kristin Paccione, chair of UVA’s new Student Council Disability and Access Committee, after seeing the article. She was as shocked as I was. Kristin spoke to her father, an employee at Nike headquarters, who contacted the Vice President of Marketing, about the ad. He submitted an apology to the employees about it, which was forwarded to me.

Though the ad’s primary purpose was to play up the features of the shoe, it came at the expense of people who are physically disabled, of which I am one. The ad’s words show an ignorant and patronizing view of the disabled. It makes fun of disabled people by painting a caricature that presumes to be a generalized view of persons with disabilities. With its negative view, Nike’s ad invalidates disabled people, dehumanizing them. It disregards the feelings of people with disabilities. It exaggerates the loss of certain abilities due to injury, and assumes that a person is mentally and physically inferior because of such disabilities. I see it as an affront personally because of this, though my own disability is a birth defect and not due to injury.

Not only is the ad offensive due to the way it portrays the disabled, but it is inaccurate in assuming that people with disabilities cannot fit in with the invincible, athletic, daredevil type it sets up to appeal to the ad’s audience. In addition, it assumes in printing the ad that the only audience would be able-bodied people, and that the ad could take the liberty to exclude and put down disabled people. With the pressures these days to be politically correct and accepting of diverse people and lifestyles, this ad is even more shocking in how uninformed and unaccepting its view is.

As a physically disabled person I can personally say that my life is not hopeless or less fulfilling because of my disability. I have spina bifida, which in simple terms means that when I was born my spinal cord had not fused together completely. As a result I have limited use and feeling in my legs so I rely on the use of a wheelchair. But this does not mean that I can’t do things for myself. I have often surprised others with how independent I am and what I am capable of. Here at school I live alone and drive my own car with the use of hand controls. I’m not a "drooling, misshapen husk," and I also don’t see my disability as a limiting factor. I have my own goals for the future and what I would like to do career-wise, which I am pursuing to the best of my ability, just like everyone else.

Being disabled has its difficulties, and some of the recurrent issues I have to deal with are access to places and getting around, and dealing with people (getting help with different issues, or dealing with attitudes towards disability). I always have to consider beforehand whether I can get into a place or not, if it has stairs or a ramp or an elevator, if the doors are wide enough, or if it has an accessible bathroom. Most places have dealt with this issue but there are still places (including some here at the University and around Charlottesville) that I have had problems with. Usually access is harder with older historical buildings, but newer buildings should comply with the ADA (American Disabilities Act) regulations, and the University has been helpful and accommodating if I come across a problem.

The Student Council’s Disability and Access Committee, of which I am a member, has been formed to address such issues of the disabled. Even something seemingly simple as going down the road or crossing the road around here sometimes presents a problem. I don’t know how many people have noticed this, but often curb cuts are not regular at every crossing, or at times there is no sidewalk at all. And I personally would advise against going across Grounds (say from Hereford to Brooks Hall by the Rotunda) daily in a manual wheelchair unless you’ve been training for the Ironman competition. I have an electrical wheelchair to get me to and from classes that I’m very grateful for, but it has been known to break down.

I’ve had problems with traveling as well. Public transportation like buses, trains or airplanes aren’t that easy for people in wheelchairs to use, and not all are properly equipped (most of the time the bathroom is not wide enough or I can’t get to it at all) or the drivers and staff are not fully prepared to know how to help. I’ve had many problems in the past traveling on airplanes, because the flight attendants were not very helpful or accommodating, or didn’t know what to do. I can’t walk on my own, and normal wheelchairs can’t fit down the narrow aisle, so when I travel I have to negotiate how I get to my seat. Most of the time there is a special wheelchair provided that can fit, but I’ve been on a couple trips where there wasn’t one for some reason. To make matters worse in these situations I’ve had to deal with attendants who weren’t very helpful and some were quite rude. I guess I can understand a reluctance to put me in a seat up front (like first class) when I didn’t pay for it, but it is much more of an inconvenience to not have a way for disabled people to get to their seats to begin with, and to have people not treat me with the same respect and courtesy as other passengers.

My point in highlighting all this is not to focus on the problems, but to make others aware of some of the issues and attitudes that a person in my situation has to deal with. There was an apology made for the printing of Nike’s ad, both by the head and vice president of Nike, but it still does not explain why it was printed in the first place, if the company is supposedly as sensitive towards the disabled as it claims. I only hope that in bringing all this to light that more people will be aware and more sensitive and respectful in the future to those of us in the disabled community.

If you would like more information or have comments or questions about anything written in the article, please contact me at cgp4h@virginia.edu, or the Disability Access Committee and Kristin Paccione at kep9a@virginia.edu.

To read the Ragged Edge's article detailing Nike's ad and the company's apology, go to http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/extra/nikead.htm.