Here is a great essay about that one Nike ad...you know, the one with the chicken? According to Bee (and I looked it up, she's not lying), the ad depicts an actual sport. It is the coolest sport on earth, and it is called Le Parkour.

I was a little sad to learn that the sport doesn't actually involve a chicken.

This Nike ad had a similar effect on me to the Sprite "Lowrider" ad, which shows a gang of kids riding around their neighborhood on kickin' gold plated lowrider bikes. Both ads are mysterious and intriguing, and really well made. They both show you just enough of a subculture to leave you hanging, and then make you feel like you could maybe get a little part of that subculture for yourself, just by buying a soda and a pair of shoes. It is quite a tease, especially for yuppies like me who aren't part of any subculture and desperately wish that we were.

Ironically, both of these ads were designed to sell things that I really disapprove of. Which makes me suspect that they were designed to appeal to people like me and make me think that giant corporations are on my side after all. So, in case my praise of their advertising makes you think that perhaps you should purchase their products, let me be crystal clear: Nikes are made in sweatshops, by children, and Coca Cola products will fuck up your blood sugar levels and rot your teeth.