Nike ad tackling race issue in Japan

I saw this posted on Reddit. It looks like Nike is trying to tackle what they see as aggressions and racism against non Japanese kids that live in Japan.

My issue with the video is that it seems to say that if one is getting bullied based on race, you just need to excel at something and people will then look up to you. (To clarify I don’t agree with the tone of the ad in this aspect)

There is a lot of controversy over the ad, with claims that the like and dislike buttons are getting brigaded by false votes. The comment sections are just vile though. A lot of comments posted in Japanese but it also brought out a lot of whites that pride Japan for keeping themselves Japanese. Plus comments that Nike shouldnt talk since products are made in China.

The last ad that made this much stink was that Gillette one.

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Wait so, you need to be exceptional to prove your worth? Because the color of your skin? The insane racism in television and advertisement was something I hated about living in Japan. Haven’t watched this ad yet, I’m not about virtue signaling by massive multi-nationals myself. Where’s the videos exposing the sweatshops making your shoes Nike?

Racism is effed up in Japan no doubt, but Nike is pretty run-of-the-mill in terms of labor practices.

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Honestly I didn’t know how to feel. Yes it’s good they are bringing up issues like this but it’s hard to take the high ground when you’re Nike. Plus like you said needing to excel in sports to be accepted.

I was quite surprised by the amount of backlash in the comments though supporting keeping Japan ‘pure’.

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If you have to be exceptional to prove your worth because of your race, but others don’t, then that in itself is racism.

Just like Booker T Washington asked their people to be exceptional because he knew the society was biased against their kind. Yet no white person ever had to be exceptional in order to be normal whereas a black person had to be exceptional.

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Oh I misunderstood I thought you were representing that as a positive, needing to be exceptional. Don’t get me started on Nike, I spent half my life near where the company started and people love Nike.

Dec, 2020, being surprised by racism, or anything really. Yeah, it is messed up.

This 100%

Not much has changed today.

Nike?

How could anybody take those hypocrites seriously?

They going after Red China, yet? Nah… did not think so.

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Not sure anyone truly does, it’s just a reason to be mad on the internet, another data point in the culture war. See Gillette advert, The Last of Us 2 if you’re a gamer…

Nike should just STFU and sell their overpriced slave-labor shoes.

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That’s what the Uighur forced labour knocking out Nike shoes need to do, get better at a sport.

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I’m glad everyone agrees being good at sports solves racism. Easy.

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Yeah, you mean like quotas based on race, right? Never mind… rhetorical question.

Well immigration laws is in itself racist.

You must be exceptional in order to have the privilege to immigrate to a country. If you are just normal in your country, forget it. If your country’s labor protection is nonexistent, that’s too bad.

But companies like Nike can freely operate in your country paying low wages for work.

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A sizable portion of a non-white community exists in your country yet has very little representation in the laws and policies that govern them per capita, due to history. Create initiatives to help the communities have a voice in a democracy (dem republic) and get better representation and actual power to address the issues that effect / afflict them? I don’t see the problem here.

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banger doc.

It’s still a lot better than the Chinese add.

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I knew people in Taiwan who thought the idea of having mixed-race kids was wrong because the kids ‘wouldn’t know where they are from’.

Deep green extreme Taiwanese nationalist.

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Welcome to the internet !!
Japan does have its own little subgroup of ‘weebs’ though who wont have a bad word said about it.
It’s not so bad here but taiwan no.1 weebs are definitely on the rise. Youtubers who rely on kissing taiwans ass for a living, or clueless tourists, both are useless imo.

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Japan has some weight in this class but this ad takes the cake for sure. The sentiment is largely the same.

People to this day think / express similar fears in Japan, that a “hafu” child may be bullied, bring shame, have troubles in school, etc., so mostly don’t bother.

This coming from a society where the average housewife spends several hours every day on her child’s bento at lunch so they aren’t bullied at school for it not being good or cute enough & therefore mom doesn’t love you.

That’s the Japan I experienced and studied when I lived there. I’m sure there are similar beliefs in every largely ethnically homogeneous society. Can’t wait to get more dirty looks as a clear-as-day-ass foreigner here. So far people’ve been outwardly polite.

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