Kids in China Urge Parents to Not Call Them Precious

Most parents are overprotective by default. They’ll do anything in their power to defend their little ones. But there comes a time when they have to (figuratively) cut the umbilical cord and let their kids act independently, even if that means they will hurt themselves (although unintentionally).

In a bid to stop parents from treating their children like babies, Nike China developed a campaign which sees four real-life child athletes such as a runner, boxer, footballer, and basketballer—all aged between 10 and 13 years old—ask for independence.

The “Don’t Call Me Precious” movement comes from the creative minds of the R/GA Shanghai’s team and is dedicated to such overprotective parents. They are asked to change their attitude towards their kids playing sports.

The sports company succeeded to address their persona (the parents’) while putting itself in the kids’ shoes. How might you ask? By developing a series of short ads that showcase the kids’ determination to compete and play sports by their own rules.

The Shanghai-based agency created four 30-second-long spots depicting the kids as they are playing their favorite sport in spite of their parents’ beliefs. There’s also a fifth video which shows all the young athletes as they join together in an anthem of independence.

These mini videos are now available online and across DOOH sites. The creative team even designed a meme generator which allows users to create their own posters and inspirational quips. The campaign is also supported by a series of events such as Nike Children’s Run, Football Training Camp and Rise Academy, as well as a dedicated Don’t Call Me Precious event at Beijing Dongdan Sports Park.

Speaking about the campaign, Steve Tsoi, VP Marketing of Nike Greater China, said: “When it comes to sports, children have the grit, determination, and fearlessness of adults. They aren’t constrained by their age, but they’re sometimes constrained by parents’ fears of them falling or failing.” He also adds that they wanted to help “overcome this overprotectiveness by reframing ‘young athletes’ as athletes who happen to be young.” And they are indeed as skilled as some older sportsmen!

“Sports doesn’t care how old you are. It’s going to be just tough on you whether you’re 13 or 30, and just as rewarding,” explained Terence Leong, Executive Creative Director at R/GA Shanghai, who believes that the Nike campaign can empower children to take risks and play sports just the way they like it.

And if your kid gets hurt eventually, you can always reward them with Nike’s Badge of Honor, a highly-colored band-aid that unfolds into a series of comic strips, dedicated to sports like basketball, running, football, and skateboarding. One thing to take away from this campaign is to encourage your children to play sports, even though they might get injured. By letting them play, they will take risks, probably fail, and get back again, this time even stronger!