We were trying to get her more in the public conscious, to let people get to know her better. Jones and Nike agreed on the content of the ads. In one communiqu , she tells her fellow athletes they must serve as role models, whether they want to or not. In another, she talks about the lack of knowledge most Americans have for track and field stars, while in Europe the athletes are afforded celebrity status. Another commercial is dead on about the disparity in pay that still exists between female and male athletes.
Women receive less.
They deserve more. The more the better. Jones is by no means a pauper, although she doesn't earn nearly as much as a Michael Jordan, a Mark McGwire or a Troy Aikman. If Nike chose a low-key approach to unveiling Jones, the rest of the corporate world exploited her persona. NBC, which broadcast the Olympic games, designed a seven-story billboard of Jones in Times Square.