What is hidden behind three words?

“Never Give Up” – a term, a slogan, an advice, an ideology that is implied again and again in every single corner in the society. The Never Give Up slogan is traditionally used as a motivational factor for sports or goals in life. In fact, Nike has adapted and implied this ideology through multiple commercials and advertisements to appeal to both the athletic and non-athletic communities. For example, In the Just Do It Nike advertisement, Shia LaBeouf has persuasively and powerfully conveyed the message to the viewers that In order to fulfill one’s goal or dream, one must start working. However, in nowadays society, where the epitome of knowledge is greater and the expectations in life are higher than ever, this Never Give Up mindset is extremely hard to maintain and seemingly absurd. The Never Give Up t-shirt artifact, however, explore a greater depth of this ideal through guidance and wisdom of the Buddhism religion. It is made specifically for the member of Soka Gakkai International- USA, a Buddhism community in the United States. Therefore, this term “Never Give Up” ties directly to the ideology of the religion, which is to examine oneself, relief suffering, and bring love and peace to everyone around the world. These concepts are the core values and beliefs that appeal to modern Buddhist’s civic duty.

In order to understand the hidden yet profound meaning of this term, it is essential to explore the goals of this community. To the members, the term links directly to the daily chant, “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” which means devotion, beauty, wisdom, and connectivity. It is a vow, an expression of determination. It is the wisdom of the Mystic Law. It is the beauty of humanity. And it is the thread that links the universe together (SGI). This chant directly uses ethos of the religion’s practices and knowledge to reinforce the Never Give Up notion and appeal to a wider range of audience. Moreover, the first word of the chant, “Nam,” means a vow, a conviction to overcome any problem or difficulty in life which is extremely similar to the traditional meaning of Never Give Up (SGI). Therefore, it appeals not only to the member of the Buddhism Community, but also to the general US community through the board commonplace of sports and athleticism. However, in this community, conviction comes not only through intangible words, but also through tangible objects such as the Buddhist alter or the Gohonzon. This object connects the words and vows with the reality, allowing the user to truly fortify his resolve and express their intentions in a vivid manner, which gives rise to purposeful actions. Additionally, the fact that the t-shirt is a tangible object makes it even more remindful. By wearing the t-shirt, the users become the artifact themselves, which remind not just themselves of their goals and purposes but also the entire general public. Still, realizing goals and overcoming hardships are only fractions of the bigger picture.

In recent decades, SGI has greater purposes, to strive for world peace, human rights, and educational rights. The last three phrases of the chant refer to the wisdom of the Mystic Law, the beauty of humanity, and the thread that links the universe together (SGI). Therefore the term Never Give Up uses pathos to appeals to everyone’s emotion by subtly calling his or her conscience and normative obligation to help those who are underprivileged and suffering. Such major points can only be seen by the members who practice the religion. Still, such a limited scope of people might convince one to think the message is ineffective. It is untrue. By limiting the understanding to certain members in the society, the message utilizes pathos to a greater extent and makes it more appealing because it is more viable to convince smaller groups to act and help the underprivileged individuals rather than the entire public due to multifaceted opinions. In turn, this smaller groups’ actions create a snowball effect that impact the general public’s action and decision.

On the other hand, the Just Do It advertisement by Nike appeals to the majority through a funny and energetic presentation. First and foremost, the advertisement somewhat uses the presented Nike’s ethos to deliver the message. Thus, most of the intended audiences are athletics or someone who familiar with the brand. However, because of the green screen background, the scope of the audiences expands as the video can be implemented in other diverse clips and videos. Entertaining is not the only reason for the video’s success. Shia Labeouf directly implies the idea Never Give Up in an angry and energetic way, which is extremely appealing to the viewers’ pathos. In a way, he acts as a medium, a coach who calls forth the audience’s athleticism self, who in turn can powerfully and mightily overcome any obstacle in life and achieve his or her goal. Moreover, he uses repetitions of the phrase “Just Do It” and motivational quotes to calls forth even stronger emotion from the audience as the video builds up its momentum. He does not end here. By acting angry and being loud suddenly, he induces a small yet enough amount of fear to his audiences, making them either stall or laugh out loud. In either situation, the audiences react to the video in a positive way as they convert their emotion into lively expressions. Without any doubt, the video does a great job appealing to the audience’s pathos and ethos.

However, while this advertisement appeals to the majority of people, it does not fully explore the potential of the term Never Give Up. In fact, the goal of this advertisement is to entertaining and promoting the brand rather than convincing and motivating the audiences. It is true that the video appeals to the audience’s pathos and ethos, but it does not really guide the audiences through the process of how to achieve a goal. No matter how strong or powerful his voice and words are at that instance, the impact to the audience will dissipate over time without repetition over a longer period. On the other hand, the Buddhism practice has a clear guidance toward a more specific purpose, to overcome hardship and suffering. It is to practice the religion daily through chanting “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,” exploring one’s weaknesses, and getting help and support from the people in the community. The Never Give Up t-shirt reminds oneself of their vow to the duty and challenge they have accepted. Still, the t-shirt is designed not only to remind one’s duty with oneself, it is also meant to remind one’s duty with the world. It is Buddhist civic duty to fight for human rights and build a better world, and the term Never Give Up really depicts this obligation. The term refers to wisdom, which is required to solve world problems. The term refers to determination because strong willpower and commitment is required during this harsh and arduous process. The term refers to connectivity, which defines unity in action. The term refers to beauty, which is the final product, a beautiful world.

In conclusion, the two artifacts have similar yet different purposes. While both artifacts are meant to motivate people, the video does a better job appealing to a wider range of audience, whereas the t-shirt does a better job in moving the audience. One reason because the range of audience is limited to the members of SGI-USA for the t-shirt. Another reason is that the t-shirt relates directly to the Buddhist practices and philosophical ideology. On the contrary, the Just Do it video designs for the majority of people in a funnier and more entertaining theme. Therefore, it succeeds in gathering attention toward the slogan “Just Do It” of Nike, but fails to motivate its audience to take action.

 

Works Cited

SGI, The Meaning of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. SGI-USA. Web.