Media Exposed #10: Lea Michele - Make Yourself, Be Yourself...Just Do It.

Nike's famous motto: "Just Do It".  It's been drilled into our heads by the media, the endorsement, the constant repetition.  Nike's goal has been to empower people to achieve the impossible, to dream big, to overcome any obstacle they face, to "just do it".  Recently, Nike has come out with an app for the iPhone, known as Nike Training Club (NTC), where users have access to 85 custom-built workouts and a personal trainer like professional athletes or celebrities that will help you get fit at anytime, anywhere.

One of the featured celebrities would be Broadway star and GLEE actress, Lea Michele, who--in the featured commercial--demonstrates a workout that helps empower her to get through her day and makes her feel stronger, physically, mentally, emotionally.  The short, 1-minute commercial shows her walking in to an dark, empty auditorium with her as the voice over talking about she was "always told [she] would never make it as a recording artist...told that [she] was never pretty enough to be on television...grew up in a high school where if you weren't thin, didn't have a nose job, or money, you weren't cool or popular."  But she reminds herself and us that she always knew who she was and what she wanted, and never lost sight of that.  Then the music begins the lyrics from the song "Lights" by Ellie Goulding, which gives the message that you can lose yourself easily in this world from judgement, but you are your own light, and you need to shine and be yourself to make it home, where you belong.

The Nike Training Club app

Certain aspects of the commercial really have an effect on the viewer, and how they see the brand or product.  In NTC's commercial with Lea Michele, the music, camera angling, lighting and setting really affect what the viewer feels and what message they got from the commercial.  With the choice of song, we as the audience understand and can relate to both Lea Michele--the endorser--and the lyrics of the song, "Lights".  Many of us know what it feels like to lose yourself in a sea of people and not feel like you belong.  But Lea Michele teams up with Nike to help project the image that you can be yourself, and by doing so you can make it in anything, as long as you "just do it" by your own terms.  The music helps the commercial in showing how Nike and Lea Michele are lovemarks, as the brand of Nike isn't just another sportswear company, and Lea Michele isn't just another actress.  They transcend that surface job and have a deeper meaning, and they have a deeper purpose to people: to make many of us feel like anything can be accomplished, and specifically this commercial sells the idea that we can do anything as long as we stay true to who we really are.  Now, with the combo of camera angling, lighting and setting, it affects the message that Nike is trying to sell (by using Lea Michele as well).  The lighting is very dark in an empty theater and focused on Lea Michele in this setting, showing how we feel like we're in the shadows of others judgement, feeling alone and isolated.  They zoom out to show the empty theater to emphasize this idea, then Lea walks onto center stage where its the only source of light.  Then she begins her workout and the lyrics start rolling, with the camera zooming in on her feet to show the Nike shoes and on her face to show her determination.  It gives the message that she's her own light in this sea of darkness, and because she stands out with her bright colored gear (like her Nike shoes and sports bra, which the swoosh symbol is easily seen on both), she stands out from the crowd because she's being herself, motivating herself, making herself the way she wants to.

Nike obviously uses Lea Michele as their celebrity testimonial, because many girls look up to her for how she didn't get a nose job when she was younger even though everyone around her was, and how she didn't compromise herself to become a star.  This shows how the target audience is not only the broad spectrum of people who aren't motivated or who have lost their way, but directly at young, teenage girls from ages 7-20, who feel they don't belong because they aren't "pretty" enough or skinny enough.  By using the setting they used and Lea Michele as their example, Nike appeals to our "need to achieve", because we want to achieve what others see as impossible [for us], and Nike's main motto also applies to the desire to make it in whatever we do.  Additionally, Nike's NTC commercial appeals to our "need to dominate", as we want to master any feat and overcome any of life's hurdles, but it also appeals to our "need for autonomy", as we don't want to be just another fish in the sea.  Lea Michele promoted it herself, saying how everyone around her didn't believe she could make it [as a recording artist or actress] because she wasn't what others classified as "pretty" or "popular", but she didn't care; she wanted to stay herself and be her own individual, getting their by her own terms as she was, not changing for someone else.  With this message, Nike is able to appeal to this need that many of us have, especially young girls around my age or younger/older (around 7-20).

Lea Michele on the NTC application!

For me, this commercial had a big affect.  Lea Michele is one of my role models because of her attitude towards life, and how she feels you shouldn't change who you are, and you can make it as anything, as yourself, if you really work for it and truly want it.  Teaming up with Nike, she really conveyed this message to me, and I actually got the app so I can do workouts with her as my trainer (it's pretty awesome!), and I watch the commercial every now and then when I need some inspiration and that reminder to not change who I am, and that I can make it as anything if I work hard enough for it.  Did Nike's NTC and Lea Michele have the same effect on you?  Remember Lea Michele's message: "If you believe in yourself, you can make yourself whatever you want to be.