Nike cheetah

I saw this clever Nike advertisement in a magazine the other day.  The ad features a cheetah seemingly flying through the air with a superimposed Nike logo prominently displayed on its side.  The ad asks the reader what is the secret of speed, and then says lets "Ask the Master."  The ad assumes a fact not in issue: that the reader knows the cheetah is the fastest land animal on earth.  A cheetah is able to achieve a speed of 75 miles per hour running up to 500 feet.

What is interesting about the ad is the cheetah never directly answers the seemingly rhetorical question what is the secret of speed.  Instead, the reader needs to make the connection that the secret must be Nike products because the famous swoosh logo is superimposed on the cheetah.  We have the typical faulty analogy identification issue in the ad.  The ad is effectively saying buy Nike shoes and you too will run fast like the cheetah.

The photography of the ad reinforces the message of the ad on two fronts.  As briefly mentioned above, the Cheetah is presented in the air almost like it is flying, which is true speed.  Also the photograph of the cheetah is is crystal clear, but the background (primarily empty space and what looks like grass) is intentionally blurry.  The cheetah is therefore so fast that what is around it is just a blur.
 
The colors of the ad do a great job of highlighting the message.  The orange and brown cheetah stands out nicely against the blurred green grass and the black background and white lettering.  The lettering also stands out nicely against the black background.  Thus, the reader is focused visually on the cheetah and the semi rhetorical question.  Finally, Nike is such an iconic brand (and the swoosh logo is so universally known) that it is not even necessary to feature a shoe in the ad.  There are not a lot of companies like Nike that can publish an without featuring its product.