The Women’s Tennis Association recently released its ad campaign Strong is Beautiful.
The effort was deemed necessary to maintain sponsorships, ensure attendance at events, and viewership on television. Despite growth in U.S. tennis participation, the WTA took a proactive stance because of a challenging global economy and the lack of dominant players on the circuit.
Some say the campaign is sexist and exploits the women athletes. Others think the campaign is a brilliant means of portraying the qualities of a champion.
The verbiage from several of the ads follows:
Ana Ivanovic
“During the War in Serbia they bombed us all day and all night, but if I got up early I could practice before the planes came.”
Kim Clijsters
“Before I had a baby I devoted all my time to tennis. Afterwards, I had to compromise. Now, I devote 100% of my time to the baby and 100% to tennis..”
Serena Williams
“Before every slam I pick out 7 outfits. SEVEN – one for every match I need to win. I wouldn’t pick seven outfits if I didn’t plan on wearing them all.”
Li Na
“China is a country of 1.3 billion people. Yet, we’ve never had a #1 player or a Grand Slam Champion. No pressure.”
Note: Li Na won the 2011 French Open Championships (after this ad campaign was released).
