“If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. You play good, you win!”

I never would have guessed that I would get my inspiration for this week’s blog post while watching Thanksgiving Day football. I had actually completely forgot about the blog up until my dad said one of his favorite (and his only grammatically incorrect) phrases.

Through the years my dad has used this quote (by whom, I have no idea) to explain why many athletes fall into the marketing ploys used by athletic companies to sell the latest, coolest looking, trendiest gear. They claim, and many believe, that by buying the newest equipment and the coolest uniforms, teams and individuals will play at a higher level. I’ve always thought about whether this idea is merely of form of manipulation used by these companies, or a theory that could truly have some evidence backing it up.

Throughout my life, I have always taken the approach that the newest gear, equipment and fashion played no part on whether you succeed in sports. I have never been a very “flashy” person on the field and in a sport like lacrosse, which has created a very attention-grabbing atmosphere, I always seemed to clash with everyone else. I didn’t have the nicest, newest pads, never wore high socks or bought expensive helmets or cleats, but was always was able to do well. I actually think that the way I looked allowed me to benefit from being labeled as a “newbie”. As an employee at a local golf course, I also saw this idea (that the newest, best-looking gear made you a better athlete) be proved wrong. I can tell you that no matter how expensive your clubs are, you’re not a great golfer if you don’t play enough. The best members are usually the ones that have the same clubs their father used in the 50’s. So these are the reasons I believed the “look good, play good” ploy was merely a manipulation.

Then there is the other side. The other side believes that the more you feel that you look the part, the more comfortable you feel about how you look on the fields, the better you will play. This idea I completely agree with. In sports, one cannot compete well if they are not comfortable. If looking good in the newest gear is something that makes an athlete comfortable, because it allows them to feel as if the audience does not look at them mockingly (which for many athletes is the case), then this is definitely a quote that they live by. The question now becomes whether each individual athlete can feel comfortable in any gear, or only the “best looking” gear. This is what causes athletic company’s marketing strategies to shift between manipulation and the truth.

So really, manipulation used in marketing strategies for any company can be seen as manipulation, or can truly hold value based on the individual and how they react with that product. Ok, maybe certain foods won’t automatically lead you on a path to a healthy life, but for some people it actually does cause them to make different choices and to think about what they are doing. Maybe any old ibuprofen will do the same job as Advil, but maybe the extra comfort you feel from knowing that you’re taking a drug that is proven to work that many people use actually allows you to feel better then taking any other brand. These conjectures are what cause me to really think about the manipulation used in marketing. While it may be manipulation, it usually holds some amount of truth. Depending on who you are, this truth can range from a little to a lot. So the next time you don’t think your being manipulated, look deeper and maybe you will find that you are. More importantly, next time you think your being manipulated, look to see if there is truth to why you doing what your doing.