Iverson Effect On African American Culture

There is a recent Reebok shoe commercial featuring basketball star Allen Iverson playing pool. The commercial is targeted to African Americans by the use of shared values and norms to the African American community. In the commercial, Iverson is wearing a hat sideways, jewelry, and baggy pants, all images that mean something to the black community. This type of clothing is a collective identity and behavior of other African Americans, a shared value. Furthermore, in the script, Iverson says, "I ain't no thug. I am who I am…" This type of assertive language was an attempt to draw attention to Iversons' individual power in a bold and un-self-conscience manner. The grammatical usage also shared that of which is most common to African Americans.