Nike’s Olympic ad: offensive to China, or no big deal?

This article will soon be exclusive to Jing Daily Pro* subscribers, with a membership that accesses our most focused, insightful coverage yet. Pre-register for a free trial, coming this summer. What happened: Nike went viral on Chinese social media this week. The hashtag “Nike promotional video licking table tennis rackets” (#Nike宣传片舔乒乓球拍引热议) sparked heated discussion, becoming a Weibo hot topic on July 23. It has now reached 140 million reads. The hashtag refers to a promotional video that the American sportswear company released on July 19 in the lead up to the Olympics, dubbed “Winning isn’t for everyone | Am I a bad person?” and narrated by actor Willem Dafoe. The 90-second YouTube clip stars renowned sports figures including LeBron James, the late Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe. At the beginning of the clip, an Asian athlete licks a table tennis racket, which triggered the controversy. Some viewers insist that the action insults China. Critics argued that licking a paddle is not a normal game activity, suggesting that the scene specifically targeted the mainland due to the sport’s national significance, and accused Nike of tarnishing the public image of Chinese athletes. The Jing Take: Amid heated competition in China from local brands such as Anta and Li-Ning, another controversy is not what Nike needs. According to Weibo’s inbuilt AI intelligent search tool, 29% of viewers were confused by the film, 29% disliked it, 17% were neutral, and 9% liked the video. “What athlete would lick his sports equipment? The most he would do is kiss it,” one Weibo user posted. Another wrote, “It’s intentional. Who wouldn’t know that we are number one in table tennis?” That said, the now viral commercial is being discussed across Xiaohongshu, but not for the same reasons. Netizens are instead debating whether athletes should project aggression and ruthlessness, or if sportsmanship should be full of love and community – this is due to the thought-provoking topic of the video exploring an athlete’s competitive mentality. In short, Nike might have made headlines for allegedly “upsetting” China, but the statistics say that a bigger debate (perhaps one that was intended) on elite sportsmanship was triggered.

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Nike’s Olympic ad: offensive to China, or no big deal?