"We Must Protect This House"-The Underlying Statement of Under Armour

Through Under Armour’s advertisement and persuading techniques, people are forced and pressured to represent Under Armour’s perception of sports and athletes. A main form of pressure comes from the company’s commercials. The commercials usually consist of large male athletes who are engaging in over-bearing sport drills out on the football field, lifting in the weight room, or giving out motivational speeches( by a coach or a team captain). By using this form of advertisement, Under Armour sends the message that their products are specially for male athletes who are interested in one thing: strength and power to the individual athlete. The Under Armour industry achieves this by using famous sports stars, such as Ray Lewis, to promote it. If the people can see a “hero” figure wearing an Under Armour brand of clothing, people will begin to think that if you start wearing this type of clothing, you are just like a sports superstar; strong, athletic and dedicated to the game. Another form of advertisement used to promote the products are the slogans. Under Armour has been able to get a lot of attention from athletes with slogans such as,

"We Must Protect this House", or “Click Clack: I Think You Hear Us Coming”. Sports require hard work to the game; but to a certain extent. Under Armour is making it seem to be a “life and death situation”, and then compelling athletes to use aggression or anger to gain success on the field. Based on the slogans, Under Armour has a language of its own that captivates the mind by showing athletes that this is how a game is supposed to be played by elite players: with intensity and anger at the opponent.

Although individual athletes are controlled by the ads, the athletes are also controlled by the product being sold. Under Armour was founded by Kevin Plank in 1996 with the intentions of finding high-tech fabric which could wick sweat instead of absorbing it. “Plank believed that if athletes could be dry and if the moisture wicking ability could help regulate temperature, they could perform better (ezinearticles.com).” His idea has worked, but Under Armour has now become a seller of performance. Sweating is common for any sort of physical activity, but the concept has led athletes to believe that if you buy the product, your game-play and skills will show better on the field. Under Armour tries to show what the ideal American athlete should look like, but it evolves into a norm that could really be inaccurate of what American citizens represent.

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