Naomi Osaka is one of Nike's most famous athletes (four Grand Slam wins, activist for racial justice, fashion icon [1], we could go on) but she doesn't appear in the brand's newest "Best Day Ever" ad . . . not in-person, that is. The tennis star makes her presence known, though, if you pay close attention.
Around 0:24 in the ad above, the video flashes to an empty press conference room with a back wall featuring Nike swooshes and a crest that looks a lot like Wimbledon's [2]. A custodian moves slowly across the space as the voiceover says, "Tomorrow, we will all finally respect athletes' mental health." Just from the quote, you might guess that this is a reference to Osaka, who recently withdrew from the French Open [3] following controversy over her decision to opt out of press [4] at the tournament. Osaka subsequently skipped Wimbledon as well. But while the mental health line alone could refer to many athletes who have spoken about the issue [5], the video of the empty press conference room makes it a more pointed shoutout to Osaka. The tennis star noted that post-match press briefings in particular were harmful to her mental health, and she was given a $15,000 fine for skipping one at the French Open.
The reference makes sense in this ad, which is focussed on the concept of "tomorrow": trying new things, innovating, achieving, changing the world, all of it could be possible tomorrow." A shoe will grow from a seed . . . a woman will run a marathon on Mars." It's good to see Osaka getting some backup on her mental health stand — now let's just hope the universal respect comes sooner than the marathon on Mars.