Some poor sod is having a bad PR day.
Turns out Nike’s advertising campaign featuring Oscar Pistorius likens the athlete to a bullet in the chamber.
Problem is Pistorius has been accused of releasing four real bullets from the chamber of a 9 mm pistol and killing his girlfriend.
You can’t escape news of the Valentine’s Day shooting that left Reeva Steenkamp dead.
And it’s not just fodder for the tabloid media: mainstream news have reports daily about the shooting, rife with speculation about Pistorius, who grabbed headlines as a Paralympian and Olympian who runs with aid of blade-like prosthetics.
The Nike campaign is loaded with war metaphors: his body is a weapon. He wages war.
Here’s the ad copy:
I was born without bones below the knee.
I only stand 5 ft 2. But this is the body I have been given.
This is my weapon. How I conquer. How I wage my war. This is how I have broken the world record 49 times.
How I become the fastest thing on no legs. This is my weapon. This is how I fight.
I’d hate to be the copywriter who wrote the script for the campaign that glorifies war, weapons and warriors.
But then, I’m just a girl.
As for Pistorius: I am a bullet in the chamber. Just do it.
[Ad copy and image from the Daily Mail at dailymail.co.uk]
Cynthia (Ištá Tȟó Tȟó) Coleman Emery's Blog 
I am in India for a working visit. AS you probably know, violence against woman is a monumental, apparently growing problem here. There are many reasons for this, including the breakdown of woman positive traditions. Of course, being a female has long been difficult for many women in India. Now the cultural environment seems increasingly frightening, according to many young women with whom I have spoken. Young men are also struggling. All seems in flux, and mixed messages are everywhere. Competition and aggression are on the rise, and with them perhaps, gender violence.
LikeLike