Never Hold Back #LIVEWITHFIRE

In a shoe advertisement, a woman is bent, mid-leap, jumping over a tire atop a wooden box. She is the picture of athleticism, muscles prominent, dressed in her exercise attire of red sports bra, black shorts,  red long socks and red Reebok sneakers. She's breaking through chains as she jumps.  To her left is a red box with the words "Never Hold Back" written in large white font. The box in its entirety reads "Never Hold Back./ Reebok One Series Apparel/Powered by BAREMOVE/Move with freedom in ONE SERIES APPAREL, powered by the BAREMOVE system. Engineered for functional movement, there's nothing to hold you back from holding nothing back./Learn more at reebok.com/baremove/#LIVEWITHFIRE." To the woman's bottom right is a white box with "Reebok" written in it, the last thing to catch your eye in the image.

We might first consider the composition of this image. The left side, of the image, on the backside of the woman, is a dark wall, and the right side is white light, which comes through a window. With the chains painted white for contrast, we might say that the woman is jumping from darkness into light. And isn't that rather appealing for people? We see the color white as good, and black as bad, so while you may not notice it at first the ad might be saying that if you have these shoes, you can be good. You too, can come into the light.  

But, good vs. evil struggle aside, this ad does leave us with a few stereotypes to consider. The woman in the photo, with tanned skin, is most likely white when we factor in the texture and color of her hair. From one point of view she might be seen as portraying what a woman "should" be: fit, able, and skinny. Sports or athletic gear related ads tend to only show one type of person using their products- someone who is already fit.

However, the ad is also empowering. While the text in the box may not be expected to be read beyond "Never Hold Back," the ad is meant to encourage the viewer to exercise, to show that women too can be successful with physical fitness, as we can see with the use of a muscular model. Traditionally, we might think of men as being the ones who exercise. Also, showing that the woman is breaking through chains can leave a variety  of messages: of breaking past your personal boundaries, or maybe on a larger scale of women breaking the boundaries society has in place for them. In that sense, "Never Hold Back" can mean not only to not hold yourself back, but to not let society hold you back either.

And of course, all you need to break free is a pair of Reeboks.