Nike’s response to French Open catsuit ban

By Sam Corry on Monday, August 27, 2018

French officials announced they would ban Serena Williams’ black ‘catsuit’ from future French Open tournaments.

The tennis ace wore the outfit, designed by Nike, back in May this year when she returned to grand slam action following the birth of her daughter. She described it as her way of being a superhero.

Following French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli’s ban, Nike quickly jumped to William’s defense and the opportunity to have a voice in the debate with cleverly crafted response on Twitter:

You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/dDB6D9nzaD

— Nike (@Nike) August 25, 2018

The tweet, which was re-tweeted and liked thousands of times, was embedded and written about in pretty much every single news outlet, bagging the brand a truck load of earned media – all for the price of some sharp copywriting and graphic design.

A prime example of the power of reacting quickly to the news agenda – and of course brilliantly crafted copy.

Serena Williams’ response to the ban, when asked by a journalist at a press conference, was a master-class in its own in quelling the storm that was brewing on Twitter, the tennis star said: “When it comes to fashion, you don’t want to be a repeat offender”.