Nike’s “Just Do It” Ad: Rhetorical Appeals and Effectiveness of the Image
This essay analyzes a Nike advertisement featuring Serena Williams, exploring how the image functions as a persuasive argument. The analysis focuses on the use of rhetorical appeals—ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos—to engage the audience emotionally, logically, and credibly. The image’s simplicity and iconic slogan are examined alongside Williams’ powerful presence. While effective overall, the ad could benefit from greater diversity. The essay highlights the role of visual media in shaping public perception and motivating action.
References
Bleicher, Steven. Contemporary Color: Theory and Use. Routledge, 2023.
Gal, Rinon, et al. “An Image is Worth One Word: Personalizing Text-to-Image Generation using Textual Inversion.” The Eleventh International Conference on Learning Representations, 2022, pp. 87-94.
Karras, Tero, et al. “Analyzing and Improving the Image Quality of Stylegan.” Proceedings Of The IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2020, pp. 284-298.
Reference
StudyCorgi. (2025, April 10). Nike’s “Just Do It” Ad: Rhetorical Appeals and Effectiveness of the Image. https://studycorgi.video/nikes-just-do-it-ad-rhetorical-appeals-and-effectiveness-of-the-image/