Beverly Beckham
Poor choice of words clouds Reebok's message
The words caught me by surprise. Maybe that was the point.
But they not only got my attention, they shocked me.
Not that I haven't heard them before. I had - but not in a seminar for teenagers.
I was at
John Lynch, Reebok's head of Global Marketing Communications, was talking to some 140 high school students about Reebok's new "Two People in Everyone" global campaign. He then showed a video of basketball player Allen Iverson reading Reebok's new manifesto.
"Some maintain sports is a faction of elites, that only the top 1 percent matter, that those who allocate every waking moment to the perfection of their game trump all others," Iverson said, speaking in front of a plain backdrop. "That those who try to find a balance between sport and life are defeated before the opening buzzer. We respectfully disagree. Actually, we disrespectfully disagree. Actually, screw those guys."
Screw those guys?
The message, that sports is not everything in life, was laudable. But the "screw those guys" kicker? It was there for the sole purpose of reinforcing - with young people, Reebok's target audience - the "us-vs.-them" mentality. And it was communicated in a way that made clear respect was not part of the conversation. We don't have to follow the rules, Reebok, through Iverson, was saying.
And no one objected. No one even gasped. Instead, students and teachers clapped.
I sat stunned. But what to do? There I was, a guest of Reebok. It's not nice to bite the hand that feeds you. That's what we're taught - to say thank you and keep your mouth shut.
But this was not just offensive. It was a lie. Because Reebok is one of "those guys" it's dissing - Wall Street, Madison Avenue. The guys with money. A corporation invested in the bottom line, in third place in the footwear market, not some free spirit, "I-do-my-thing-and-you-do-yours," antiestablishment outfit that it pretends to be.
Lynch followed up the Reebok manifesto with a video of outtakes it put together in which Iverson is filmed struggling with his lines, the profanity bleeped, but obvious. The students, who were from Avon, Canton, Dedham, Milton, Norwood, Randolph High, and Blue Hills Regional, laughed. Of course they did.
"Outtakes are supposed to be funny," I was told later by Denise Kaigler, senior vice president of Global PR and Communications. But what is so funny about seeing an adult struggling to read?
Kaigler went on to explain that the outtake video was not part of the official Reebok campaign but would be posted on YouTube. The students got to see it because, she said, "We were asked to do something that shows the real side of marketing and it doesn't get more real than this."
A Reebok spokeswoman said that the manifesto, and the marketing campaign that comes with it, was a smart way to connect with kids, and that the "screw you" reference did not strike her - or most others who had seen it - as offensive.
Katherine Touafek, director of the School to Careers Partnership, said, "I've never received so much positive feedback. I have e-mails from teachers, guidance counselors, and students."
Online, other world-famous athletes and celebrities recite Reebok's creed in their native languages: Indian cricket stars Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni; Korean pop singer Ivy; Japanese model Jessica Michibata; Argentine triathlete Oscar Galindez; Japanese martial artist Kid Yamamoto; Czech tennis player Nicole Vaidisova; Spanish soccer goalkeeper Iker Casillas; Ukrainian soccer player Andriy Shevchenko; Chinese basketball player Yao Ming; and French soccer player Thierry Henry. So this "screw-those-guys" message is being heard all over the world.
But here's the truth about "screw those guys." Michael Vick clearly took this philosophy to heart and look where he is today. And look how quickly Reebok reacted. It didn't embrace him and make a video of Vick hemming and hawing about what he did or didn't do with pit bulls: It stopped selling his jerseys.
Reebok didn't say, "Hey, man, there are two people in everyone. Let's give the second guy a chance."
It walked away.
Language matters. Attitude matters. Behavior matters.
Young people deserve to know this, that "screw those guys" in words and in actions does not open doors. It slams them shut.
Beverly Beckham can be reached at bevbeckham@aol.com. She reads and talks about her columns in her weekly podcast at boston.com/news/podcasts.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
