Advertising- Lines of Appeal: Nike "Take it to the Next Level"

The 2009 Nike Football advert focuses on appealing to a male based audience in the age bracket of 15-30 of a hetrosexual sexuality, as the advert promotes the lifestyle of a straight, male footballer who we see through a POV camera angle; in a "rags to riches" type story. This would endear to the target audience; as the person we embody for the duration of the advert starts his journey as a Sunday league player and is scouted- embarking his path as a pro. This is a vial stage of the advert as it may inspire to (someone of whom Young and Rubicam may classify as) an Aspirer/Egoist, who currently play Sunday league, to find the inner drive to promote themselves in a way "you" do in the advert. 

The advert largely utilises the need for guidance and need to achieve as it cleverly uses the POV angle to portray the character as the individual watching the advert (also entertaining the need for autonomy), emphasising that you already have your elite-self in you, you only need to "Just Do It". Also used is the need to aggress, as it shows the character struggling at the beginning of his career against household figures such as: Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ronaldinho, leading to the need to dominate, and recover the power the individual lacks highlighted in the early stages of the ad. Using the off field lifestyle of the footballer captivates the fantasies of the many who wish to experience such a luxurious life. It also touches upon the need for sex as the advert includes scenes of a mild sexual nature; encoding if you buy Nike, you have a successful career which will leave you desired by the opposite sex. The advertisement also triggers nostalgia as it features the POV character returning home to his middle class family and despite his fame, taking part in your average family activities such as drinking tea, an activity of which would relate to the middle class audience. Nostalgia is also deployed in the concluding frames of the advert as the character steps up to take a free-kick for his country (Holland), in a similar position to that of the free-kick took for his Sunday league side, only this time a sense of self-actualisation (Abram Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 1954) hits the player, as Wesley Sneijder hands the ball over to you, allowing you to take the free-kick; this hints that the character is at his peak and has fulfilled his potential, as someone like Sneijder openly giving the character the ball reflects the respect the character has achieved, inferring you too could achieve this if you follow the path of your character (as easy as it is made to look).