Taking on a controversial stereotype, a new Nike ad filmed in the Gulf Arab emirate of Dubai shows Arab women fencing, boxing, spinning on ice-skates and, in the case of parkour athlete Amal Mouradm, leaping across rooftops.
The video begins with a woman emerging from a doorway and adjusting her veil before going for a run in the street, while a female voice narrates in a Saudi dialect: “What will they say about you? Maybe they’ll say you exceeded all expectations.”
Although within 48 hours the video was shared 75,000 times on Twitter and viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube, not everyone supports the depiction. As reported by Reuters, some are calling it a misrepresentation of the very group it aims to empower.
Nada Sahimi commented on Nike’s Instagram post, “I think this ad was an utter fail. This is not the true representation of Arab, Muslim women. We do not wear a hijab and go running in the streets, shame on Nike.”
Photo and video courtesy Nike
