Last month, they presented their findings to the head of Nike Mark Parker, and by the Times’ count, at least six men in high-level executive positions have left the company (or said they will). Buried in this report is a nugget that shows how the footwear brand underestimates women—not just its employees, but its audience, too. Nike was getting ready to launch a marketing campaign around the VaporMax shoe for women, and brought in FKA Twigs, the alt-R&B auteur and professional weirdo making some of the best outer-spacey slow jams out there, in shoot a commercial for it.
Twigs did exactly what she does best and got freaky with it. The ad featured “a woman twirling on what looked like a stripper pole and male athletes in sports bras striking odd poses,” according to the Times report. Considering how Twigs used to be a dancer (and that fact that she is FKA Twigs), I don’t really see what Nike was so surprised about. Alas, they scrapped the spot.
I maintain, however, that if they had, like, just Googled her, they could’ve seen this coming. Just a thought! It appears Nike did end up going with an ad Twigs made for tights, which is nice, but no thank you. I don’t need any more tights in my life.
