The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2021
Nike's New Fairies casts Rayssa Leal as proof skateboarding is a girl's sport
Nike's New Fairies turns Rayssa Leal's real fairy story into a Disney-style film so skateboarding starts to feel like a girl's sport too.
Nike · Wieden + Kennedy São Paulo
What it had to solve
Skateboarding has always been seen as a man's sport, and Nike wanted to change that — to make sure it becomes a girl's sport too. The brand had the perfect proof on hand: Rayssa Leal, the Brazilian 'little fairy' who became famous at seven for a heelflip in a fairy costume, and who at 13 was skating for Brazil at her first Olympics.
How it works
Skateboarding has always been seen as a man's sport, and Nike New Fairies is an invitation to make sure it becomes a girl's sport too. Nike had a real fairy to help make the point: Rayssa Leal, who became famous at seven for landing a heelflip dressed as a fairy, and who at 13 was about to compete for Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics.
Wieden + Kennedy São Paulo mixed graffiti with animation to create a magical universe in the style of classic fairytale films. Leal skates through the city with cartoon wings on her back as animated creatures gather around her, while the original soundtrack from Disney's Cinderella is blended with gritty skateboarding sound effects.
The fantasy stays anchored to her reality. Along her route graffiti reads 'Fairies do exist', and the film ends with the genuine 2015 Vine video of the seven-year-old's fairy heelflip — the moment that started everything and that the campaign recasts as proof rather than gimmick.
Nike published the film hours before Leal won silver in street skateboarding's Olympic debut, becoming the youngest Olympic medallist in 85 years. The spot passed 1.6 million views within days and 4.8 million views with more than 60,000 shares within three weeks, and entered the D&AD awards archive under Art Direction.
Why it lands
- The film answers the 'skateboarding is for boys' framing with one undeniable counterexample instead of an argument.
- Using her real fairy nickname and the original Vine footage keeps the fantasy grounded in something that actually happened.
- Cinderella's song against gritty skate sounds joins the fairytale world and the street world, so girls and skaters both see themselves.
- Releasing the film around her Olympic moment made the silver medal itself part of the story's proof.
What it did
Nike published the film hours before Leal won silver in skateboarding's Olympic debut, making her the youngest Olympic medallist in 85 years. The spot passed 1.6 million views within days and 4.8 million views with more than 60,000 shares within three weeks, and entered D&AD's awards archive under Art Direction.
What you can take
To open a space that feels closed, personify the exception: build the whole campaign around one real girl whose story disproves the rule, and let fantasy serve her reality rather than replace it.
Since then
The medal made the campaign's claim literal within hours, and New Fairies became a flagship of Nike's global 'Play New' series, which invited people to discover sport in new ways. The work was listed in the D&AD Annual 2022 under Art Direction, and coverage kept returning to the 2015 heelflip — evidence that one girl's fairy costume had grown into a national argument for girls in skateboarding.
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