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Nike's in-your-face Hyperdunk ads rejected
Following up on Gianatasio's post not for the easily offended ... Nike has pulled three ads for Hyperdunk Basketball shoes amid criticism that they are homophobic. The print ads, part of a larger campaign by Wieden + Kennedy, have images of basketball players slam-dunking over other players in a way that brings the dunker’s crotch into the personal space of the other player’s face. In other words, their junk is all up on some dude’s mouth. The headlines of the three axed ads are “That ain’t right,” “Isn’t that cute,” and “Punks jump up.” Nike (of course) says the ads weren’t meant to be offensive. Its press release states that the ads were “based purely upon a common insight from within the game of basketball—the athletic feat of dunking on the opposition, and is not intended to be offensive.” Wieden has already removed the three executions from its blog, but that hasn’t stopped people there from continuing to comment on them. Wanna see the other two pulled ads, huh, punk? I got your executions right here. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
Comments
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BS. If not wanting to have a strangers genitals shoved in my face is homophobic, I can live with that.
Posted by: | Jul 28, 2008 7:07:30 PM
I think if they really wanted to show the grace, majesty, and power of an NBA athlete with the phrase "That Ain't Right" they should have just showed Kobe Bryant nailing a chick from a hotel. Maybe with a bloody towel on the bed.
Amazing. These guys are firing guns in nightclubs, beating up each other and fans in the stands, and somebody's worried about these silly, unintentionally bad posters.
Posted by: 1Letterman | Jul 28, 2008 8:46:19 PM
It's really funny that I see this here now. The guys and I were just talking about these the other day at work we saw it in a mag.
Dwayne.D.C.Tucker II
DwayneTucker.com
PicBloom.com
Nassau,Bahamas
Posted by: Dwayne.D.C.Tucker II | Jul 28, 2008 11:14:40 PM
Our country is ridiculous, no wonder we've fallen so behind in the world advertising scene.
Posted by: juan el luchador | Jul 30, 2008 9:55:33 AM
these lines are so early 90's slang. Did "boo-ya" not make the cut?
Posted by: Jimmy | Jul 30, 2008 10:15:46 AM
Hehehe! “Boo-ya” is hilarious! Someone must preserve horrible slang words like these for our children to laugh it. It’s our cultural heritage.
Posted by: Rebecca Cullers | Jul 31, 2008 10:20:15 AM
