Nike's Attempts at Symbolic Interactionism

The term which was studied by George Herbert Mead was intended to show “how we learn culture and how culture structures our everyday experience” (Baran and Davis 301). Furthermore, Baran and Davis write that “social roles and many other aspects of culture are learned through interaction, through experiences in daily life situations. Over time, we internalize the rules…” (302). It is apparent that the meaning of symbolic interactionism is intended to portray the idea that people learn cultural norms through interaction with others. They do not challenge what is learned but rather accept it as “right” and therefore this dictates the so-called rules to a society.

Upon hearing the definitions of these media influence terms, I was immediately drawn to thinking about the NBA and its typical stereotypes. It is of no surprise to anyone that the NBA and basketball in general is associated with African-American athletes. The league is made up of 75% African-Americans. This, is a very strong stereotype dominating our sports nation today. However, there is little being done to alleviate this dominating image and that is most evident within sports advertising. Judith Williamson furthers this statement in relation to advertising by saying “certainly advertising sets up connections between certain types of consumers and certain products” (McQuail 300). And this is exactly what is happening with Nike.

Nike is a leading advertiser of athletic apparel. The majority of their ads have undoubtedly been targeted towards basketball fans and thus they have taken an approach to emphasize the role of African-Americans in the commercials as well as interests (emphasizing certain consumers with certain products) Fred Edmund Jandt conducted a study in which he analyzed several Nike commercials over time. He examined the language, stories, messages and other elements of the ads to see how they fit in to consumers lives and found an overwhelming majority of the time these ads were aimed at African-Americans. Although the study was done several years ago, the same results can be found today and possibly even more justified. Jandt wrote, “More systematic investigations are needed but (nonetheless) based on the premises of symbolic interactionism, Nike has packaged and presented its advertisements in a culturally appropriate manner that perhaps may promote optimal communication with Black consumers.” A copy of the study can be found here: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zutRiJJMBQYC&oi=fnd&pg=PA264&dq=symbolic+interactionism+and+sports&ots=VdYEdDfqVb&sig=OlRreK4kxndsB71Jax15RPYH5k#v=onepage&q=symbolic%20interactionism%20and%20sports&f=false

So in summation, it is quite evident of the strong role of Black consumers within Nike advertising with particular respect to basketball but is this a good thing? Therefore, I leave you with a few questions to think about. Is it appropriate that Nike targets African-Americans because they are the primary consumers of basketball content? Do you think ads of this sort are fair and justified? Does Nike have a social responsibility to promote its products to all potential consumers? And based on your understanding of symbolic interactionism, do you think Nike’s promotion of these ideas facilitates appropriate communication with Black consumers?