Rampage Jackson makes a surprising appearance in one of the latest Nike commercials entitled the “Human Chain” alongside other Nike athletes including Maria Sharapova and Lance Armstrong.
Human Chain from NikeSportswear on Vimeo.
Payout Perspective:
Nike has traditionally been very selective of the athletes it chooses to associate with, so it’s somewhat surprising to see Rampage in one of their commercials given his history and the fact that there are probably safer endorsements out there in MMA.
There’s no telling whether the appearance is a sign of Nike jumping into the MMA market, endorsing Rampage specifically, or just a move to capitalize on MMA’s growing popularity while still maintaining an arm’s length relationship with the sport as a whole. Whatever the case may be, it’s encouraging that we’re starting to see a little bit of thaw in the attitude towards MMA – and its athletes – from some of these multi-billion dollar market cap companies like Nike and Microsoft.
My guess is that this has as much to
do with “The A-Team” movie and mass-market visibility as with MMA, because like you say, there are safer choices out there if you’re looking for an MMA star endorser and you wield the fat checkbook that Nike does.
It’s only a matter of time before MMA is routinely included with the major sports in ads. Rampage’s section is a stand out moment in the ad.
considering Tiger Woods, who now is a “safe” endorsement?
Great to see Rampage included in this commercial. It just goes to prove MMA is moving closer and closer to mainstream sport recognition.
This is actually a no risk ad for Nike. They never show his name or single him out in the ad. He isnt a spokesman for Nike and their images are not linked if there is a scandal and negative press created by QJ. If Qj gets in trouble their relationship is such at this point Nike isnt going to be the first or 100th think to come to mind when you see or hear the name Rampage. Unlike Tiger who was one of the names and faces of the Nike corp. They were interlinked to where when you hear one name you think of the other. I think companies are going to move away from that type of mrketing because the risk they take when an athlete “turns bad”.
Strange how the commercial seems to be done by people who are clueless about the sport and the rules or at least the ad was done to look that way. They showed QJ’s part as if he was a boxer. A fighter on the ground deciding wether to get up or not. After making up his mind he gets up and the opponent didnt pounce on him and was in his “neutral” corner across the cage. This was probably done on purpose as the only way to do the “always get up” theme. But if thats the case it shows nike’s feelings of the sports reach that they decided to use a MMA fighter rather than a boxer even in a boxing type scene. Then again its much cheaper to get a recognizable MMA fighter than a known boxer. So who knows the logic behind the decision. Interesting food for thought.