People continue to debate Serena’s place in tennis. We wanted the debate to be where she stands in sports. Our goal was to provoke a long-overdue conversation whether the greatest athlete of all time has a gender requirement.

In our campaign, we tell Serena Williams’s story with just a couple of words. By striking out one word, we challenge how people think about her role in sport history. Instead of running the message as a “win ad” after we knew the outcome of the US Open, we decided it was crucial to make our statement before Serena had picked up her racket. The timing made the statement even more potent as a reminder that her role in sports history transcended the outcome of any single tournament.

The campaign told Serena Williams' story with just a couple of words that defined her journey to where she is today. By striking out one word in the final phrase “greatest female athlete ever,” we challenge how people think about her role in sport history.

Instead of running the message as a “win ad” after we knew the outcome of the US Open, we made our statement before Serena had picked up her racket. This made the message even more potent as a reminder that her role in sports history transcended the outcome of any single tournament.

To reach sports enthusiasts, we ran our film during the US Open as well as on ESPN and social channels where conversation happens. We also brought our message to the streets on high-visibility painted murals and immersive subway dominations.

This campaign wasn’t about sales for Nike. It was about changing the conversation around how we see athletes and the labels we use. Instead, we measured success by how people responded to the message and how it changed their perceptions about the greatest athletes of all time.

We tracked a 19% engagement rate across social channels, and the message was seen 77 million times during week one of the tournament. Before the paint was even dry, New Yorkers were sharing our OOH to their social channels as a sign of support and solidarity. These posts started with New Yorkers, but quickly spread to athletes and sports sites, taking our message from an advertisement to a cultural force. And equally as important, we sparked conversation about Serena’s role in sports history and drew both praise and debate from fans, athletes, coaches, and the broader sports world.