What social media thinks about Nike's quest to empower Middle Eastern women

Nike has been making headlines lately with their marketing campaign that aims to encourage female athletes in the Middle East. Their promotional video, narrated in Arabic with English subtitles, starts out with a phrase commonly said to remind women to preserve their reputations:

What will they say about you?
Maybe they'll say you showed them what's possible. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/NZbQLC1JuB

— Nike Middle East (@NikeMiddleEast) February 18, 2017

The reactions to the video have been overwhelmingly positive, from both Arabs and non-Arabs. Take this hijabi woman’s tweet:

Honestly so happy the Nike has presented such an ad that breaks and really reflects the portrayal of women sports in the Arab region. https://t.co/aqrEAdFKIi

— أبرآر (@AbrarElHassan) February 23, 2017

This Arab Twitter user also gave the ad rave reviews:

@Nike Women - The Middle East

This is the greatest ad for gender equality in the Middle East especially in the name of sports! So proud! pic.twitter.com/NktyCIA1IU

— Ghaleya Aldhafiri (@OfficialKolkol) February 19, 2017

Abroad, The W Project, a UK based initiative that focuses on empowering women, gave the thumbs up to Nike:

But, although the positive reviews were well meaning, there were also tweets like this:

Show them what is possible. #nike #justdoit https://t.co/8vvHlueqD4

— Jeroen de Lange (@jeroen) February 18, 2017

What seems like inocuous encouragement is actually one of the problems with women’s empowerment in the Middle East—the idea that Middle Eastern women must be enlightened on how not to be oppressed. Though women’s rights are certainly an issue of concern in the region, one has to ask whether or not the reactions of Westerners to the ad are out of a one-dimensional view that all women of the Middle East are oppressed.

On the other hand, the fact that female Arabs are endorsing the ad, that it features a female narrator from Saudi Arabia, and that it promoted actual female athletes from the Middle East is a step in the right direction. One could argue that women’s empowerment, in this case, is coming from Middle Eastern women seeing female role-models from their own communities brave enough to get on camera and play sports. Whatever your stance, you have to give Nike props for this brilliant marketing campaign.