CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF NIKE’S ‘‘DREAM CRAZIER’’ ADVERTISEMENT

Advertisements are a part of our daily lives, and they convey certain messages. In this way, they deal with values, attitudes, and shared knowledge that compromise a culture. In this regard, the current study focuses on critical discourse analysis of an advertisement which is titled as Nike’s “Dream Crazier’’. The present study aims to look at what is actually being said in Nike’s “Dream Crazier’’ ad and what linguistic features and devices have been used to depict an idea. Furthermore, the present study focuses on the context of production and reception of the text and the analysis of context which assesses the relationship between the ad and broader social processes and ideologies based on Fairclough’s framework. The advertisement analysed in the present study directly draws attention to gender discrimination and gender bias toward women athletes and indirectly it is conceptualizing gender with sport. Although the target message in this ad is concentrated on equality, in fact, gender discrimination is made. In other words, the ad makes gender discrimination by embracing the sports that are preferred by male athletes, and by directing women to act as male athletes.