Blog #2 Response to ARP "Rise"

For my first primary source analysis, I used Nike’s “Rise” commercial. In this commercial, LeBron’s new image is sold to the audience, not his shoes (as Nike usually does). This advertisement was James’ first crucial response to the media after “The Decision.”
“The Decision” was a press conference LeBron’s press team designed to inform the public of his move to Miami, moreover to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of America. Although it appeared that his heart was in the right place (raising money for kids), viewers saw it as a way for LeBron to hijack a media outlet (due to huge public anticipation) to promote himself even further. It does not take a press expert to understand that this conference would not be well received. As expected the media fallout for James was horrible.
Nike’s “Rise” commercial attempts to rebrand James, and help his image. This is done by asking the simple question, “What should I do?” Through out the commercial LeBron responds with many different hyperbolic and rhetorical questions of his own. These questions are used to show James as a human and a victim of his own celebrity. In the commercial's end, James states the final and only true answer to “What should I do,” which is, “should I be who you want me to be?”
Although this advertisement does its job in rebranding James, it still leaves some viewers with bittersweet feelings. Accepting LeBron’s move as an appropriate step in his career, yet still seeing him as egotistical and self-absorbed, the commercial is ironic. As a viewer myself, I forgive and understand LeBron for leaving Cleveland, but I still dislike him (as I always did) for being the arrogant prick he has always been.
As a source, this commercial was rich with symbolism and imagery. Every scene is laden with different props, sounds, and film/editing techniques that promoted the message of the advertisement. The hardest part of the analysis was ranking which scenes to use, because there was so much potential analysis and a word limit.
An interesting note: although “Rise” barely featured James’ new line of shoes, sales for the shoes skyrocketed after this commercial was released. I guess it does not take direct advertising of the shoes to sell them, only a revitalization of James’ image.

Link to paper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ARl6Z_3FLR6nqwhNviMc0HFQ1Dzo8lIL9sIrRf-tpno/edit?hl=en&pli=1&authkey=CJvbgIgN#