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Chris Patterson
Professor Collins
ENGL 1301
21 November 2016
Butt With A Capital C
In 2005 the Nike Footwear Manufacturing Company launched a campaign targeting their
core audience through a series of advertisements featuring women of different body types as
well as a variety of ethnicity selling brand awareness . The text in one advertisement from this
campaign dubbed big buttsupports the value of having a big butt. My butt is big and that's
just fine and those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it. as the text follows the curve of a
beautifully developed behind of a woman of color wearing a pair of boy's brief underwear while
readers say to themselves, damn, wish my butt looked like that. The company known for their
Just Do It slogan was established by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. Originally selling
Japanese manufactured running shoes from the trunk of their cars under the company name,
Blue Ribbon Sports, they officially became Nike Incorporated in 1978. For years the athletic
apparel industry tried to satisfy the female consumer with smaller, more brightly colored
versions of what they were making for men. But when yoga pants became the denim of
yesteryear and the public image of women began to evolve from the thin frail image once
considered in vogue, to a healthy more athletic body type, designers and manufacturers followed
by changing their shrink it and pink it approach to women's athletic apparel. In 2010 a meme,
a copy of a popular image with slight changes that is distributed on the internet, appeared online.
Nike media representative Derek Kent confirmed suspicion that it was a fake. It touted the iconic
Nike Swoosh and quoted the copy from the 2005 My Butt Is Big advertisement with few
changes made. The meme presented the full image of a female body wearing a different type of

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shorts and the misspelling of ambassador (embassador). The counterfeit uses symbolism, logos,
and ethos to send a message of it's own, motivation for the continued fight for change within
society on the issues of race, gender equality, and personal advancement.
Marketing diversity with the silhouette view of an unidentified model of unknown race
with hands wrapped like a fighter symbolizes the struggles of women of color. In 2008, just two
years before the internet appearance of the 2010 Big Butt meme, America elected it's first
African- American president, Barack Obama. First Lady Michelle Obama rapidly emerged as a
role model for females young and old. The image of her physically fit, healthy body reinforced
the fact that there are not only successful women of all color but there are beautiful women of all
body type. Mrs. Obama's national focus on nutrition has been supported by her personal
appearance. No longer should girls and women seek the one size fits all body type once featured
in magazines and film. Strong healthy women need strong healthy bodies. The wrapped hands of
the model suggest that she is a fighter, possibly fighting for equality based on race.
The wording of the meme provides a reminder that for generations women have been
bombarded by body shaming images, gender inequity, and stereotypes. Historically few
advertisements have lifted women to the eye level of their male counterparts, maintaining
separation by category. In the late 1960s the Philip Morris Companies congratulated women on
their battle for equality and rewarded them with their own cigarette, in their advertisement for
Virginia Slims, they basically stated , women who are smart enough to vote are smart enough to
smoke. Interestingly, today there are no women's cigarette advertisements yet the brand that
supported the women's movement in the 1960s made choices then, that have impacted today's
society. In 1970 the Virginia Slim brand partnered with women's tennis star Billie Jean King to
form the Virginia Slims Series for tennis which was prior to the Women's Tennis Association

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tour. King is considered to be the most important female athlete of the twentieth century. Known
for her dedication to sexual equality, her support of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
community and a champion for equal pay for female athletes, according to the Public
Broadcasting System's American Masters full length film Billie Jean King. Through the years
partnerships between brands and public figures have successfully brought attention on
sociopolitical issues and eventually made a difference. The wording on the meme provides proof
that women have come a long way but still have a long way to go to achieve equality based on
gender.
The Nike Swoosh lends credibility to anything related to sports or physical endurance.
Nike's logo represents years of research and development of athletic shoes and countless
endorsements of professional athletes in the universal arena of sports. According to the History
of Nike, an article from KicksOnFire.com, the Swoosh was designed by an advertising student
from Portland State University in 1971. Carolyn Davidson was paid thirty-five dollars for the
logo which represents Nike the Greek Goddess of Victory. It first appeared on the side of a shoe
in 1972. Advertising Age named Nike Marketer of the Year in 1996 stating, the ubiquitous
Swoosh ...was more recognized and coveted by consumers than any other sports brand...
Carolyn Davidson was part of the Nike team until her retirement and will forever be accredited
with the iconic design. The message here may be, with effort and the Nike brand a woman can
achieve her dreams as in the case of Carolyn Davidson, whose true reward came long after the
her work occurred.
The MY BUTT IS BIG meme provides a motivational tool for a confident approach to
life, with it's symbolic reminder of a multiracial society, text that supports the struggle against
stereotypes ,and the credibility of a brand that promotes results. An image of a woman balanced

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on the balls of her feet in parallel to the Nike logo on her shoes represents the outcome of effort
as she works to develop muscle which creates a change in shape, while a change in shape
creates a change in confidence, balance, and harmony. The combination of symbolism, logos,
and ethos is effective in supporting the effort of individuals in their personal crusades.

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Works Cited

Billie Jean King. PBS, PBS, 13 Sept. 2013, www.pbs.org/video/2365075155/.

Accessed 14 November 2016
History of Nike KicksOnFire.com. KicksOnFire.com, www.kicksonfire.com/history-of-nike/.
Accessed 14 November 2016
Thomasilli, Rich. Big-Butt Debate of 2010 Inspired by Fake Nike Ads. Advertising Age Latest
News 4 Aug. 2010, adage.com/ Accessed 14 November 2016