If you have an opportunity to change something for the common good, would you do it? The answer is obvious, but the question is posed by Nike in its latest commercial (“You Can’t Stop Our Voice”) where, in 1 minute, the prestigious sports brand invites young people, and different communities of North American society, to vote in the next presidential elections of the United States to be held this November 3.
Directed by Hiro Murai and narrated by actress Regina King, the short shows various sports stars such as Lebron James, Naomi Osaka, Odell Beckam Jr., Sue Bird, Ja Morant, A’ja Wilson, Tim Anderson, among many others, while a A young promise of women’s basketball dribbles with the ball on an empty court in the company of hundreds of televisions that pretend to be spectators, but also reflect moments of great difficulties during 2020.
The message is concise and precise, but strong in every way. It summarizes what could be -for many- one of the worst years in a long time thanks to the crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic (more than one of them ruined their plans), which brought out the best and the worst in each country because, indifferently of the affected society, no one was prepared to face a pandemic scenario. Added to a possible contraction of the US economy of -6.6% and a fall in unemployment of 9.7% by the end of this year, according to IMF data, racial problems and police abuse generated a wave of protests throughout the country, led for the international movement Black Lives Matter and a call to citizens to generate a just but necessary change. Events such as the death of George Floyd last May of this year, was the fuse that ended up lighting a problem that has been growing with the passage of time.
