Swooshtika
Icons for Corporate Tribes
Read Mercer Schudardt
July 1, 1997
The Swoosh is a big, fat, stylized check mark. Or, seen another way, it is two check marks on top of each other, conjoined at both ends and filled in with a solid color. As a check mark, the Swoosh communicates at a subconscious level, because we've all been recipients of check marks for twelve or more years of school. The check mark is what we receive as a symbol of a correct answer on a test, a good point in an essay, or presence (as opposed to absence) on a class participation list. It signifies success, achievement, proper answers and attitudes for the one thing we all do daily during our most formative years. It is a wordless, imagistic representation of the success and affirmation that we all crave. The Swoosh is the visual equivalent of a smell you haven't experienced since childhood—it triggers your memory and returns you instantly to a simpler, more innocent time, when you felt younger, healthier, and more invincible. By the time our schooling is complete, our mind's eye is so firmly convinced of the positive psychic and emotional connection between achievement and the check mark that the Nike symbol is guaranteed to resonate within us and make us feel good about ourselves, whether we recognize it as a check mark or not.
Thus, it is Nike's product, not their icon, that is arbitrary. In truth, Nike could use the Swoosh to sell anything from pianos to pizza, but the check mark works best in the sports and fitness realm because sport is the one area where a person can achieve incredible success in the world without doing well in school. Think about it: who is most distant from the culture of academic achievement in our country? The underclass. Nike products offer a wearable check mark of approval and self-esteem ...
Like the preview? To read this complete article
and 20,358 more in the archive—JOIN NOW!
Easily find high-quality, well-researched materials that provide a Christian perspective on topics ranging from headlines to history.
Start using this invaluable tool TODAY for preparing your Bible studies, presentations, class lectures, sermons, meetings, and more.
|
It's easy and quick to join:
Brought to You by Christianity Today Int'l |  |
|
| 
Find similar articles
E-mail this page
