In this commercial, Under Armour uses football players to endorse their clothing line. This commercial is set in June and is using the upcoming football season as a way to show their product. It begins with an African American player getting ready for the season, waking up early to do push ups in home. The words “ready for august” flash across three different pictures. These scenes move quickly with the fast pace rap music streaming in the background. It is directly targeting football which means they are also targeting the male gender. Most of the players shown are African American which links to the statistics on how 70-80 percent of football players are African Americans (Coakley 309). While this is true, it again reinforces race and ethnicity issues in sports. These players also have an expression on their faces that is directly linked to the male stereotype: aggressive, indifferent, tough, etc. Their serious look sends a message that these individuals are serious. To even further this aggressive stereotype, there is one point when two players are arguing about “who is going to step up”. Every scene is covered with gender messages especially those towards African American males.
It frames sports as a way from rags to riches in society because it follows one player who is in a poor living environment and then suddenly having success on the field. Since the video ends with the words #Iwill, it is sending a message to young people that if you committed and work hard, this can be their future too. There is even one moment where the camera pauses on a young African American child looking out the window towards the players practicing. This has a lot of negative consequences because it is making a message more so for this targeted group than the product itself. In fact, the only time you actually see the products name is at the end of the commercial. This is negative because of this rags to riches idea. Sports is often seen as a way for society to integrate and improve issues around race and race relations. However, it is actually suggesting that “young blacks, especially men, grow up believing that the black body is superior when it comes to physical abilities” and this commercial seeks to “inspire some young people to believe it is their biological and cultural destiny to play certain sports” (Coakley 286).
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