"Jogging vs. Running"

Seeing the running shoes made me want to read the advertisement right away because I’m a runner, myself, so I those types of ads always intrigue me. When I first read the ad, it took me a minute to actually decide whether I liked the way they put everything. However, after thinking about Law & Order: SVU, which they always use the plot of a runner finding a dead body, I thought the ad was very smart. The elements that first stood out were the shoes on the dirt/ground and the lettering/color of the heading. The shoes clearly stood out the most because they are the biggest figure in the ad, but for some reason the font stood out to me too. Whether it was the white on black or the chalkiness, the font made me want to read on as well. As I mentioned before, I am a runner so the ad had more of an affect on me. I ran cross-country throughout high school and developed a love for it, even though I don’t run competitively anymore. I definitely think the fact that I run had an impact to the way I viewed the ad. I think it appealed to me more and made me understand everything they were talking about.
After reading the Pearl Izumi’s campaign for “We are not Joggers” it made me laugh but also definitely had good persuasion techniques during all the ads. If I wasn’t a runner I would be embarrassed to say I was a jogger. The ad definitely persuades to everyone that they should become, or at least try to become, a runner. For example, the ad points out the people who listen to music as they “run”, actually “jog”. I know when I’m running that I see a lot of people listening to music because they say they can’t just run. Also, the ad says that runners can jog, but it is really them just running slower. Joggers on the other hand, find it painful and difficult to go any faster than their normal pace and actually run. The reference to TV is definitely a persuasion technique because it alludes to the fact that runners like to find different paths to run on, while joggers take the usual and safe trail to run on. All of these techniques make you feel sort of like a failure if you’re a jogger and not a runner.
The ad states that our ancestors used running as a type of survival. It says that in order for our ancestors to get the meat they needed, they had to run to get it because if they were to jog it would never have been caught. The other species were too fast, so running was a necessity. Pearl Izumi definitely alienates the “jogging” population. Throughout the entire campaign he makes joggers seem like they are worthless and they might as well not even try it because they aren’t even doing anything. I don’t know how there would be any advantage to dividing them because the joggers would be turned away and pissed off at this guy and his ads. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got hate mail, and lots of it, from people all around the world who were offended by his allegations. The logos were very strong, with lines that said survival depended on running back with our ancestors. However, the pathos was much stronger because this whole campaign was based around what runners thought. Izumi made statements that said they have tried to determine the speed people would be classified as a runner and as a jogger, but they haven’t ever been able to. Some people physically can’t run faster than they are when, as Izumi would say, they are jogging. Also, he says that the shoes he designed weren’t meant for joggers to use on treadmills. However, treadmills can go to a speed that would be classified as a run. There aren’t really any facts in this campaign. Rather, Izumi is just writing his opinion and other avid runner’s opinion throughout the campaign. The Reebok ad definitely appealed to me more because it wasn’t as “rude”. The Reebok ad was actually kind of badass. As a runner, I know it is considered great if you puke because it means that you have tried as hard as you can, which is a huge accomplishment. I know it sounds kind of morbid, but anytime anyone puked on our team after a workout or race, they would receive a round of applause or props because they would probably continue the workout or race. However, the Pearl Izumi ad was degrading to people who weren’t avid runners. So, if you weren’t that runner, then why would the ad be appealing? Running is such a hard sport and so to be told that you aren’t actually running if you listen to music or run on the usual trails, that is a put down. It makes you feel unaccomplished and like a failure.