Nike is the latest brand to encourage quarantining and social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. On social media, the brand posted its iconic swoosh along with the message, “If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance. Play inside, play for the world.”
The message, conceived with Wieden + Kennedy Portland, follows Nike’s announcement that the brand, its foundation and leaders would be committing more than $15 million to support COVID-19 response efforts.
The post also coincides with Nike's announcement that premium programming on its Nike Training Club app is now accessible to users free of charge. The subscription-based service includes studio-style streaming workouts, progressive training programs with or without the use of external weights and expert tips from Nike Master trainers.
Nike's funding to support COVID-19 efforts will be dispersed among organizations like the Oregon Food Bank, the Oregon Community Recovery Fund and Oregon Health & Science University. The latter will receive $7 million to help improve care coordination throughout the state, increase patient access and bolster readiness for expanded diagnostic testing for the coronavirus.
Support will also go to the United Nations and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund in order to bolster the coronavirus efforts of the World Health Organization and its partner.
The funding follows Nike’s earlier $1.4 million commitment in January to the China Youth Development Foundation, which went to providing healthcare workers with supplies and equipment to treat patients in the country.
Nike recently announced it would be closing its stores in certain countries around the world from March 15 through March 27 in response to the pandemic.
The brand joins other advertisers who have promoted messages aiming to help curb the pandemic or reassure consumers during the crisis. Earlier this week Ford, for example, pulled all its national vehicle spots for new coronavirus response ads from Wieden's New York office. Those announced how customers of its financing arm would be able to alter or delay payment schedules for their vehicles.
McDonald's in Brazil recently debuted a social campaign featuring a "distanced" version of the Golden Arches, drawing complaints from some consumers.