The audience for these advertisements is directed towards men in general and more specifically the average athletic/training person. The ad itself reinforces being the best you can be, this can apply to anyone with aspiring dreams or goals. However, due to the fact that the ad is sponsored by Nike, this incorporates an element of athleticism and more specifically basketball fans/athletes (through the role of Kobe Bryant). The brand is built upon the items that they sell, each item reinforces the idea of buying into being the best, hence the reputation of success when purchasing a Nike clothing item or in this case shoes. The use of Kobe Bryant in partnership with the Nike shoe allows for the customer to feel as if they are buying the ‘dream shoes’ due to one of the most successful athletes owning them, the simplistic yet effective advertising creates an illusion of success and motivates their customers at the same time. The use of a world-class, well-known athlete such as Kobey Bryant is a figure that represents hard work and dedication, ultimately implying the end goal of being “one of the best in their field”. The contrasting audience of a woman to a man is due to the adds not enforcing gender balance or equality. Women are alienated within the advertisements, there are multiple examples of successful men however not one example of a successful woman. The overall combination of Kobe Bryant and Azis Ansari in one of the ads does in retrospect appear/create as a misogynistic and oppressive tone, due to Kobe Bryant’s rape charges and Aziz Ansari’s sexual misconduct allegations placed against him. However, when looking from an alternative point of view, the incorporation of a woman into the advertisements may create the idea that Kobe Bryant is bulling women, the interactions between two men is largely based on humor and jokes, If you were to have Kobe question a woman’s success it could come across as degrading and gender oppressive. Furthermore, when you look at the market for Nike products, the consumers for athletic footwear is primarily men based, this is due to the fact that women tend to spend more money on their kids for shoes as a toddler.  In terms of the audience’s perspective now v.s. then it would be altered to the experiences and external influences today. Such as the fact that Kobe Bryant has passed away, this makes it hard to find the humor in the add, this factor also makes the ads a form of tribute to Kobe now rather than empowerment and inspiration. Furthermore, the actors within the advertisements were “upcoming stars” at the time, however other than Kanye the majority of them are unknown to the upcoming generations, making the ads less powerful and relatable to a large number of people.