Nike’s ‘So Win’ campaign focuses on women in sport who are defying critics and breaking down barriers. It encourages female athletes to turn negative commentary into motivation and delivers an inspiring message about resilience and self-belief.
In a sporting event primarily centred around men, Nike chose to end their 27-year hiatus of advertising at the Super Bowl, with an advert capturing the resilience and power of female athletes. Nike’s ‘So Win’ campaign features:
- Alexia Putellas (Spanish Football Player)
- Sophia Wilson (Smith) (American Football Player)
- Caitlin Clark (American Basketball Player)
- Sabrina Ionescu (American Basketball Player)
- A’ja Wilson (American Basketball Player)
- Jordan Chiles (American Gymnast)
- JuJu Watkins (American Basketball Player)
- Sha’ Carri Richardson (American Sprinter)
- Aryna Sabalenka (Belarusian Tennis Player).
By including a broad range of sports – football, basketball, tennis, gymnastics and running – Nike strengthens the message they are trying to convey. It demonstrates that the challenges women face in sport aren’t confined to one pitch, court, or track. These pressures – being told they’re too loud, too confident, too emotional – cut across disciplines and levels. By showcasing athletes like Alexia Putellas, Caitlin Clark and Aryna Sabalenka together, Nike sends a clear message: these barriers are universal, and so is the strength it takes to overcome them.
As one of the leading sports companies in the world, Nike’s decision to launch their campaign at this time was not a coincidence. Of course, this advert is important because of its representation of female athletes and how powerful they are, but, as well as that, it’s exciting because Nike recognise that women’s sports have the power to sell. In an interview as part of the campaign, Basketball star Sabrina Ionescu said:
“Women’s sport isn’t the future, it’s right now. We’re seeing it in packed arenas, in TV ratings, in the way people are showing up for the game like never before.”
As a business, Nike recognises this, and as shown by this advert, obviously values the commercial viability of women’s sport. Following the launch of the advert, Nike kept the momentum going by releasing a series of Instagram and TikTok posts, showcasing each featured athlete and celebrating their achievements. Within just one day, the ad gained over 66 million views on Instagram, making it one of Nike’s most watched videos ever and proving that people are undeniably interested in women sports.
Every word of Nike’s ad is packed with meaning and feels important to include, and so, the full script can be read below:
“You can’t be demanding. You can’t be relentless. You can’t put yourself first. So, put yourself first. You can’t be confident. So be confident. You can’t challenge, so challenge. You can’t dominate, so dominate. You can’t flex, so flex. You can’t fill a stadium, so fill that stadium. You can’t be emotional, so be emotional. You can’t take credit. You can’t speak up. You can’t be so ambitious. Break records. You can’t have any fun. You can’t make demands. You can’t be proud. You can’t keep score. You can’t stand out. Whatever you do, you can’t win. So win.”
The repetition of the phrase ‘you can’t’ reflects the limitations so often directed at women in sport. No matter what they do, they will be criticised. Critics will suggest their confidence is arrogance, rather than acknowledging that they are confident because they have worked extremely hard, honed their skill and are exceptional at their sport. They are confident because they have won trophies, have a proven track record of being the best, and have earned the right to be confident.
Everything the women are told they can’t do or can’t be, Nike contradicts and challenges them to be anyway – ‘so be confident’, ‘so challenge’, ‘so win’, despite all the criticism. The visuals of the ad also reinforce this. As the words ‘You can’t’ are uttered, powerful shots are shown of the athletes doing exactly what they are told they cannot do – dominating, filling stadiums, winning. This juxtaposition between the language and the imagery serves to completely undermine the criticism, acting as an empowering message to all women – they can win.
While the message of Nike’s ad is an inspiring one, encouraging women and girls to break down barriers and win despite the criticism that is often thrown their way, it also raises an important question: if the facilities, investment, and infrastructure don’t match, how are women supposed to keep winning?
The reality is that many female athletes still operate in systems that underfund, undervalue, and under-support them. From grassroots level upwards, women’s teams often lack access to the same quality of coaching, medical care, training facilities, wages, and sponsorship deals that their male counterparts receive. It’s not enough to tell women to be confident, ambitious, and relentless if the systems surrounding them don’t set them up them to thrive. For the message of ‘So Win’ to be more than just empowering words, it must be backed by meaningful structural change. These athletes have already proven they can win, despite the barriers. Imagine what they could achieve if those barriers didn’t exist at all. Hopefully, one day soon, women in sport will be able to win, not in spite of the system, but because it finally supports them.
Link to Nike’s advert: https://youtu.be/b0Ezn5pZE7o?si=_zrxZKj3vuWHp9pH
