Michael Jordan’s new Nike commercial is the polar opposite than most of his other commercials. Past commercials that Michael Jordan has been in showed his basketball skills that truly excite any basketball fan; flying through the air to dunk the basketball and, of course, the crowd goes wild with excitement. No, this new commercial is something that astounds people, for it lists the legendary Air Jordan’s failures.
In the Nike commercial, Michael Jordan is seen getting out of a black SUV and walking down a hallway to what the audience presumes to be is toward an important basketball game. He seems to be confident in himself, however, not being intimidated by the flashing lights of the cameras, giving high-fives to security officers and head nods to janitors. The setting of the commercial is to show how important and respected Michael Jordan is. The setting is a huge contrast of what Michael Jordan is saying, however. As he is walking to the player’s entrance, Air Jordan is actually listing his failures.
“I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career; I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over in my life. And that's why I succeed.” For someone who ruled the late eighties and the nineties, viewers do not expect Michael Jordan to list the barriers that tried to keep him from success. His dialogue is what makes this commercial have an impact on viewers. He explains that in order to succeed, sometimes you must fail. Viewers should realize that life itself is full of trials and errors. Michael Jordan shows that in order to become an outlier, one must show dedication and a willingness to learn from failures.
Carol Dweck would label Michael Jordan as having a “growth mindset”. He learns from his mistakes instead of denying that his failures even happened. He doesn’t try to blame his failures on anyone besides himself. Society as a whole could take a lesson from Air Jordan. Society sees failure as being bad, but an individual with a “growth mindset” sees failure as being an opportunity to learn something. Michael Jordan didn’t put himself on a pedestal because he wants everyone to know that even the best athletes make mistakes. Even superstars don’t always have the brightest moments and Michael Jordan shows us this through his commercial about his own failures.
I like the way you say that what Michael is saying doesn't fit with the rest of the setting. You also relate him to the book by saying he has a growth mindset. The way you end your post summarizes all of your concepts very well.
ReplyDeleteI loved when you said, "Michael Jordan shows that even superstars don't always have the brightest moments" because this is really what the commercial is all about. It shows that to become an idol, you must embrace your failures along the way. I also liked, as Cailin said, how you said that Michael Jordan doesn't fit in with the setting. Overall, this was a great post.
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