People need to lighten up. As a runner, I find it amusing. I think even walkers should get a laugh out of it. It's meant to be funny not offensive.
classic case of two things can be true at once. 1) Walkers and people need to lighten up... a lot. (This offends us but getting rid of measles vaccines is fine?)
2) Nike sells a crap ton of shoes to walkers. What were they thinking? Brainless.
I'm of the generation where to run Boston you had to qualify. No charity bibs. Pretty tough qualifying standards. And if someone had the jacket, you knew that they were a serious runner and had put the work in. So I kind of liked the slogan. But I realize that the world today is more about inclusivity, and so I'm not surprised by the backlash. It's weird that Nike didn't see this coming.
I had to run under 2:50 to qualify for 1982 Boston. I'm a runner, and I liked the poster. In my opinion, Wejo is wrong. Pissing some people off is one attribute of marketing with an edge. Moreover, it isn't a statement about Nike, it is a true statement about the Boston Marathon. It is a race for real runners.
Probably true, but nike is dumb to do this. Its just a no win and dumb. This country needs FAR more people getting out and starting a walking program vs people that need to Q for Boston.
I know this is the general ethos is marketing, but a company like Nike actually does care what you think. Which is why I think this ad is a little strange for them. They clearly have moved away from any sort of elitist positioning of the brand, probably to their detriment, at least for many of us around here that view them more of an Athleisure company than a legitimate sports equipment/apparel company at this point. But I'm not sure if denigrating (if you can really call this ad that) other people is the way to improve that image. Does this ad move the needle for anyone in believing Nike is now back to committing to making the best products who take running seriously? I doubt that it does.
For the record, I think getting bent out of shape about any of these ads, including recently the Sydney Sweeney fiasco, is stupid. I personally couldn't care less who gets offended. But take that out of it, is it a effective ad given the company has serious work to do to bring back buyers like us? And I'm not sure it is.
To paraphrase Michael Jordan, "Walkers buy sneakers, too." There's always something that turns someone into a snowflake, be it being called the wrong pronoun or seeing someone kneel before a football game, or what not. Nike took a risk, and it seemed like it backfired. Not surprised we runners think it's funny. That being said, I wonder how many more old people are now gonna migrate to the old people shoe, New Balance.