Nike gets real in ads to women

Adage yesterday pointed out Nike's new advertising, by W+K, aimed at women. The print ads (there is no TV) feature six different body parts, from shoulders to thighs, and copy that is a bit sassy.

Nancy Monsarrat, Nike's U.S. ad director, called the branding campaign an extension of the "If You Let Me Play" campaign geared toward women that Nike ran in the late 1990s -- with one exception. "In the '90s we finally got smart and said, 'Hey, let’s talk to women.' But we never talked specifically about women’s bodies, and that’s a hot topic right now."

Read on to check out the ads.

Copy: My shoulders aren't dainty or proportional to my hips. Some say they are like a man's. I say, leave men out of it. They are mine. I made them in a swimming pool then I went to yoga and made my arms.

Copy: My knees are tomboys. They get bruised and cut every time I play soccer. I'm proud of them and wear my dresses short. My mother worries I will never marry with knees like these. But I know there's someone out there who will say to me: I love you and I love your knees. I want the four of us to grow old together.

Copy: My butt is big and round like the letter C and then thousand lunges have made it rounder but not smaller. And that's just fine. It's a space heater for my side of the bed. It's my ambassador. To those who walk behind me, it's a border collie that herds skinny women away from the best deals at clothing sales. My butt is big and that's just fine. And those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it.

W+K