Joga Bonito

Today at APM there was a mini launch event of Nike’s world cup products. Well, to be more exact, the launch of Nike’s Joga Bonito campaign. Joga Bonito, is apparently a phrase in Brazil that literally means “play beautifully”. You know, to be honest (I am putting my job at risk by saying this …), these kind of jargons often times mean nothing to 90% of the people on earth. Nonetheless, Nike has the reputation (a successful one) of somehow implanting these seemingly meaningless notions into our heads, and somehow turned it into life mottos for a lot of us (Just do it, anyone? How about “King” James?). So, in order to try to be a bit more conscious this time around, I went online to look for the true meaning and usage of the phrase “Joga Bonito”.

From Wikipedia:

Bonito is a name given to various species of medium-sized, predatory fish of the genus Sarda, in the mackerel family, including the common or Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) and the Pacific bonito (Sarda chiliensis).

(Er, what? Predatory [sounds very adidas]? Sarda [not sardines]? I don’t care. It is in the mackerel family, so at least it tastes delicious.)

(I couldn’t find much really. But separately, I found listings for “Joga” and “BonitA”)

Bonita Magazine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonita_Magazine

“Bonita Magazine is an international men’s magazine aimed at the Hispanic/Latin market based in the USA and printed in English. The magazine was first published for a consumer audience in 2005, however, the concept and format had existed as long as 3 years earlier, in 2002. In English, the Spanish word bonita means pretty or beautiful.”

Bonita, California

Bonita is an unincorporated community in southern San Diego County, California, nestled between the cities of Chula Vista, National City, and San Diego.

As of the 2000 census^GR2, there were 12,401 people, 4,179 households, and 3,397 families residing in Bonita. The population density was 977.2/km² (2,533.3/mi²). There were 4,281 housing units at an average density of 337.3/km² (874.5/mi²).

The per capita income for Bonita is $31,131 .

For comparison’s sake, here are the stats for our motherland HK:

Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated countries/dependencies in the world, with an overall density of more than 6,200 people per km² (that’s almost 7 times of the entire Bonita County!!!)

Hong Kong’s Per Capita Income: $36,800 (Hey, I am more bonita-ish as a Hongkie. At least I am supposed to be richer)

And lastly, for Joga, excerpts from BJORK’s song Jóga:

“...
State of emergency

How beautiful to be!

State of emergency

Is where I want to be

…”

Er. Okay, forget it, rather pointless eh?

Just watch Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Henry, Rooney and Ibrahimovic joga bonito, and believe that Joga Bonito is what you crave and relish everyday.

http://nikefootball.nike.com/nikefootball/siteshell/index.jsp#,en,0;jogatv,,0