Nike Empowers Hijab-Wearing Athletes In Emotional New Ad

Earlier this week, Nike Middle East unveiled an empowering ad featuring female athletes in hijabs.

The ad starts off with a woman peering outside of her door, nervously, before leaving for a run. Then it cuts to another woman in a hijab, skateboarding down the middle of the street. Then, a montage of female athletes begins.

This all takes place to the voice of an Arabic woman, exalting the athletes for defeating the odds.

This ad arrives after Nike recently announced a focus on the strength and beauty of equality in its 2017 campaigns. In a statement released earlier this month, the company said,

Equality is about Nike raising its voice and using the power of sport to stand up for the value of equality and to inspire people to take action in their communities

That same week Nike released an ad, called "Equality," starring Lebron James and Serena Williams that begged the question, "Is this the land history promised?"

Check out the ad in full below:

Although Nike is gaining a lot of positive attention for its messages of inclusivity, there are some critics that have been calling it hypocritical.

Clay Travis from Fox Sports Radio's show, "Outkick the Coverage" has been one of the loudest voices in this commentary. On his show, he mocked the ad and said,

Nike is making money hand over fist because they're only paying their workers three dollars a day to make them in Indonesia. If equality is everywhere, doesn't Nike actually have to treat its employees equally? Doesn't Nike have to actually bring its brand to American shores and make this sneaker inside of our borders and actually pay people in America to make a shoe they're asking people to buy?” “Don't you think it's a little bit hypocritical for Nike to say that equality is everywhere when it's paying workers overseas 1/76th of what they would have to pay for an American to make this?”

Which is something to keep in mind, even if the company is trying to inspire.