Anti-gay Nike Ad Not From Nike
January 13, 2009 by Ted Rybka, GLAAD's Director of Sports Media
Raise a champion
Some Internet forums (and GLAAD constituents) are ablaze over what appears to be Nike’s newest ad campaign in the latest issue of CMYK Magazine. The ad copy reads:
“THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN GOING TO THE BALLET
IS GOING TO THE BALLET TO WATCH YOUR SON”
The bottom right hand corner reads “RAISE A CHAMPION, NIKE KIDS”
However, the ad did not come from Nike. The “advertisement” is actually the work of an art design student. Nike had no part in the creation of this “ad.”
I spoke with CMYK’s publisher, Curtis Clarkson. He did not realize that the student’s ad could be viewed as anti-gay, but he does now. Clarkson has “great remorse” and will be issuing a letter of apology shortly (check back here for the contents of that letter). Clarkson will also include an article in the next issue of CMYK about the incident.
[...] As I mentioned yesterday, I spoke with CMYK Magazine’s publisher, Curtis Clarkson, after finding out that an anti-gay ad for Nike shoes was not commissioned by Nike. Rather it was the design of an art student. [...]