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 It begins with a woman nervously peering out of her doorway
and adjusting her veil before going for a run in the street,
while a female voice narrates in a Saudi dialect: "What will
they say about you? Maybe they'll say you exceeded all
expectations."
Within 48 hours the video was shared 75,000 times on Twitter and
viewed almost 400,000 times on YouTube.
"An ad (which) touches on the insecurities of women in a society
digs deeper and becomes an empowerment tool rather than just a
product," Sara al-Zawqari, a spokeswoman for the International
Red Cross in Iraq, wrote on her Twitter page.
But not all the reviews were positive.
"I think this ad was an utter fail," said Nada Sahimi on the
company's Instagram page.
"This is not the true representation of Arab, Muslim women. We
do not wear a hijab and go running in the streets, shame on
Nike," she said.
Filmed in the older, rundown suburbs of the glitzy Gulf Arab
emirate of Dubai, the ad reflects the struggles faced not only
by women across the region but also by some of its own stars.
Amal Mourad, a 24-year old Emirati parkour athlete shown leaping
across rooftops, told Reuters her father was reluctant at first
to let her train in a gym where men were present.
"Convincing my father was the toughest part ... if you want
something bad enough you stick to it, and you can get it done,"
said Mourad, who now teaches classes in a mixed gender gym.
Women exercising in public is a rare sight in much of the region
and women-only gyms are few, are not fully equipped for
different sports and are often more expensive than gyms for men.
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In Saudi Arabia, physical education is prohibited in all-girls
public schools and women's gyms remain illegal in the kingdom
because female athleticism is deemed un-Islamic.
Speaking to the Okaz newspaper this month, Saudi Princess Reema bint
Bandar said the government would soon provide female gyms with
licenses, citing public health reasons and not women's empowerment.
"It is not my role to convince the society, but my role is limited
to opening the doors for our girls to live a healthy lifestyle,"
said bint Bandar, who is a senior official at the General Authority
of Sports.
The ad's message may also tap into an emerging new market for Arab
women chafing at hidebound social norms and an entertainment
industry that often relegates them to docile roles.
"We need to start driving the conversation away from Arab women
being subjects of segregation, or oppression ... and more towards
them being enablers, achievers and go-getters," said Dubai
advertising executive Nadim Ghassan.
(This version of the story corrects attitude of father of Amal
Mourad in paragraph 9)
(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Noah Browning and Paul Tait,
Larry King)
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