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Nike issues rallying cry to women featuring Serena Williams

Nike is telling women to “make the world listen” in a campaign featuring local and international talent via global creative powerhouse Wieden+Kennedy.

The campaign features glimpses of 23-time grand slam tennis champion Serena Williams – who is currently at the centre of a racism and sexism storm following her dramatic loss at the US Open and the subsequent depiction of her in the local News Corp Press – and comes immediately after Nike caused a stir internationally with its ad featuring rebellions NFL player Colin Kaepernick.


Created by US-based agency Wieden+Kennedy, the campaign – which was shot prior to the Williams scandal – aims to highlight the power of female determination and show the ways in which women break down barriers through sport.

The local campaign features AFLW Carlton player and boxer Tayla Harris and soccer star Samantha Kerr and will roll out across the Asia Pacific.

The one-minute ad shows women in states of physical distress, before being motivated to cry out and ‘just do it’.

It concludes with a mammoth knock-out punch in the boxing ring, with the call-to-action: “Make the world listen”.

Nike said the women in the ad are doing more than yelling.

“A rally cry is more than a yell,” Nike collateral explains. “Its a visceral response to a mental reaction – frustration, elation and every emotion in between. It’s a call to assemble. It’s a call to advance. In sports, the rally cry can turn the tide of a game, and in the process, change the trajectory of a life.”

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