Advertising, Marketing, and Persuasion

You have seen it in hundreds of commercials and on all types of clothing-shirts, jackets, and hats. It is an oversized check mark, a smoker’s pipe that juts outward, a “curvy, speedy-looking blur” (Hartley, 2000). Take a look below. It’s the Nike “swoosh”—the symbol of Nike products, promoted by celebrity athletes; an emblem of Nike’s television advertising campaigns; and, to many, the embodiment of speed, grace, mobility, and cool. The swoosh is a major reason why Nike is the major player in the sneaker market, and a testament to the success of commercial advertising (Goldman & Papson, 1996).