23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams has become the voice to Nike’s latest Just Do It advert that was broadcasted for the first time on Sunday evening in America.
Called ‘Dream Crazier’ the 90-second video celebrates women who have ‘Broken barriers, brought people together through their performance and inspired generations of athletes to chase after their dreams.’ It features athletes such as gymnast Simone Biles, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon and Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad.
Narrated by Williams, the advert made its TV debut during the Oscars. Last year the award ceremony attracted its worst ever TV audience in America, but it was still viewed by 26.5 million people.
“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic,” Williams says in the ad. “If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, we’re delusional. When we stand for something, we’re unhinged. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just being crazy.”
“But a woman running a marathon was crazy. A woman boxing was crazy. A woman dunking, crazy. Coaching an NBA team, crazy. A woman competing in a hijab, changing her sport, landing a double-cork 1080, or winning 23 grand slams, having a baby, and then coming back for more, crazy, crazy, crazy, and crazy.
“So if they want to call you crazy, fine. Show them what crazy can do.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpJ19RJ4JY
Nike’s infamous Just Do It campaigns began in 1988 with their first national TV advert. The slogan was created by advertising executive Dan Wieden, who was inspired by the last words serial killer Gary Gilmore said before he died. Gilmore said ‘let’s do it’ moments before he was executed by a firing squad in 1977.
Williams was at the Oscars when the advert debuted. The former world No.1 presented Best Picture nominee A Star Is Born during the first hour of the show. Giving a powerful speech about chasing after your dreams to the star-studded audience.
When we’re young, we all have dreams of what we can accomplish in life,” she said. “Having the dream is easy. Making it come true is hard.”
Williams is set to return to the tour next month at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
"When we're young, we all have dreams of what we can accomplish in life," Serena Williams says while discussing "A Star Is Born" the 2019 #Oscars.
"Having the dream is easy. Making it come true is hard." https://t.co/zSrvQG8ZE6 pic.twitter.com/BqdAVi06XG
— ABC News (@ABC) February 25, 2019
