Nike teamed up with Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion for an exercise and wellness campaign which sees the singer share her personal fitness journey whilst encouraging viewers and fans to follow their own athletic paths and ignore the naysayers.
The campaign, running under the sportswear behemoth’s ongoing ‘Play New’ brand platform, sees the artist seek to inspire anyone searching for their own inner athlete through a campaign called ‘Hot Girl Coach’.
Spearheaded by a hero spot titled ‘New Hotties’, Megan Thee Stallion illustrates her own athletic journey and fitness commitment amidst unsolicited advice from friends and family regarding which sports she should play based on her height and build. In the end, she chose dance and her status as an athlete-in-motion isn’t dictated by how others define athleticism, but rather by the commitment, hard work and sweat she puts in.
“Dance was something that stuck with me and sat right in my spirit,” says Stallion as she works to train and ignore critics. “Dance is my sport. Performing is my sport. Rapping is my sport. If you think this don’t take no work and no effort and no sweat, you’re wrong.”
Launched on 23 September across the brand’s social channels and those of the singer, Nike ‘New Hotties’ notched up more than 6.5m YouTube views in 48 hours and a further 4.5m on the musician’s personal platforms.
In addition to the lead spot, the musician will take her health and wellness to her fans – who she affectionately refers to as ‘Hotties’ – by fronting a series of Nike Training Club (NTC) workouts alongside Nike trainer Tara Nicolas to show how she finds pushing herself both tough and fun.
These sessions will be available through the NTC app where Megan Thee Stallion also shares her wellness advice and offers access to view her mindfulness experience.
“I like the fact that Hotties get to see me go through my struggle,” she added. “It’s realistic for you to want to give up. It’s realistic for you to not want to eat this today. It’s just really about discipline. I love my body, first of all. That’s number one. I’m curvy, I’m thick, I’m tall. But I definitely want to make sure I’m keeping myself healthy, mentally and physically.”
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The Nike partnership is built around Megan’s status as a paragon of confidence, self-esteem, body acceptance and wellness.
The campaign title refers to Megan Thee Stallion originating the ‘Hot Girl Summer’ phrase and the initiative leverages her energy, talent and her huge social fan base (which includes 7m Twitter followers and 25m Instagram followers).
Nike isn’t the only brand partnering with the star. She recently teamed with Cash App to give away a $1m in stock in blue chip companies like Microsoft and Peloton to teach everyday consumers about investing, while her other brand partnerships have included Calvin Klein and Warner Bros Games.
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