Analysis of Michael Jordan 'Maybe It's My Fault' Commercial

When discussing sports, a common debate one may encounter is who the greatest athlete of all time is.  Answers usually include athletes who have shown greatness throughout their career in their appropriate professional league.  It is easy to provide an answer based on how many championships an athlete has brought in for their franchise, how many individual awards they were given, or how many points they accumulated in a single season.  Based on these factors, it is easy to include Michael Jordan in these arguments because of what he showed on and off the court during his seasons in the NBA. With his flashy passes and high flying dunks, Jordan took the league by storm and revolutionized the game of basketball.  Jordan was an icon and legend to the eyes of many who saw him on television wearing his red and black Chicago Bulls uniform.  Along with his success in basketball, came his accomplished clothing brand, Jordan Brand, which was established in 1984 when Michael agreed to a contract with Nike to become a subsidiary line with the company.  His fame brought upon a lot of craze from fans who were trying to be like him.  Basketball players around the world would watch Jordan highlights and believe that his play style was the secret that brought Michael so much greatness on the court.  Or the shoes, “it’s gotta be the shoes”, fans would wonder, as they watched Jordan on their TV jumping from the free throw line to dunk the basketball, wearing his signature sneakers.  It seemed that no one knew what it took to become as good of a player as Mike was.  But in 2008, a commercial produced and sponsored by Nike, released to the media called “Maybe It’s My Fault”. 

In this advertisement, Michael addresses all those who were misled to believe that his basketball talent was built on his flashy playstyle, and not effort.   More specifically, he is targeting all athletes by questioning their work ethic and Jordan makes it known that his success did not come from just dunks and passes.  Visuals in the ad, such as the weight room, basketball hoops, and empty locker rooms, also keep the intended audience involved because all athletes can relate to utilizing these, competing in their appropriate sport.  The commercial was released on public television, in hopes that fans around the world, who were affected by Michael’s style of play, encounter his important message.  

The commercial begins with a shot of the iconic Michael Jordan statue built in front of the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls, and then changes to a different angle of the statue where it states all of his achievements and honors as a member of the team. These two shots symbolize Jordan’s career, they acknowledge his accomplishments and nothing else.  The two images sum up to the viewer who Michael is without any prior context, a gifted basketball player who is decorated with a variety of awards given to him throughout his career.  These two images do not explain what Michael is made of and what he went through to become such a highly praised athlete.  He says this in the ad about his work effort: “Maybe it’s my fault.  Maybe I led you to believe it was easy, when it wasn’t.  Maybe I made you think my highlights started at the free throw line, and not in the gym.”  Mike addresses those who believe his game was formed on free throw dunks, rather than the endless hours spent in the gym which prepared him to perform actual dunks like that.  Jordan gives his intended audience a different perspective on his playing style by explaining that it is his hard work that brought him championships and achievements.  

The last images of the commercial are of his trophy collection at his home which is similar to the first two shots seen at the beginning.   Through the commercial’s message, it is now known that it takes hard work, practice, time and effort to be great at anything.  Instead of judging Michael strictly on his awards, we can now include his off-court effort which gives the audience a better understanding of what kind of athlete he was.  On the last shot of the commercial, Jordan leaves his audience with this: “Maybe I destroyed the game, or maybe you are just making excuses.  Become Legendary.”  Hearing this, Mike hopes that athletes who have been ignoring practice and training, now feel motivated to no longer create excuses for themselves.  He wants players to be better than their doubts and rise above expectations through hard work; to ‘become legendary’ at their respective sport.  

Because Michael Jordan is such a well respected athlete who has motivated many individuals to pick up a ball, his showing in the commercial was extremely important to reach basketball players around the world.  Apart from basketball, his presence and importance among all sports is just as powerful.  Michael has partnerships with various franchises which allow members to represent their team with Jordan Brand athletic apparel, such as jerseys and shoes.  Overall, Jordan has empowered athletes with his strong influence and showed them what it takes to become great.  Athletes everywhere should feel represented by this commercial, as they know that the message in this ad is universal to all sports; hard work leads to success.

The commercial ends with a motivating message to “Become Legendary”.  No single person can reach a certain ‘legendary’ status as an athlete, coach, or general duties as a member of a sports team, without individual practice and effort.  Jordan explains this through the different video shots of his major basketball achievements and also the places where he bases his success from.  Although he blames himself for ‘ruining’ the game of basketball because he made it look so easy on the basketball court, Jordan says this sarcastically in hopes that the audience quit making excuses for the progress they are not making.