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The Nike A’One, the signature shoe created for WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, sold out in under five minutes on Tuesday. While the anticipation for Wilson’s first signature shoe had a lot to do with the demand, so did a recently released ad for the shoe, which was directed by Malia Obama, the daughter of former United States President Barack Obama. But there seems to be an issue.
The viral commercial, which was first released on social media, features Wilson on a front porch with a young girl who is teaching her “Miss Mary Mack,” a popular children’s clapping game. The ad also features Wilson-specific lyrics to the same tune as well as Double Dutch. Those elements, which have deep roots in the Black community and especially among young black girls, drew immense praise for both the commercial and Obama.
Malia Obama’s Nike Ad For A’ja Wilson Bares Striking Resemblance To Short Film
However, on Monday night, filmmaker Natalie Jasmine Harris took to X to express some troubling issues with the ad. Harris stated that the ad had startling similarities to her own short film, “GRACE,” which debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. As it happens, Obama was in attendance at the festival the year that “GRACE” premiered.
Been sitting with this for a while. My Sundance short film GRACE (shot brilliantly by Tehillah de Castro) was made with deep love and care. The social cut of the new @Nike commercial directed by Malia Obama (who was also at Sundance my year) feels shockingly similar to my work… pic.twitter.com/iy2N2krpQN
— Natalie Jasmine Harris (@nataliejharris) May 6, 2025
Harris then showed still shots as well as video from both “GRACE” and Obama’s Nike ad. The similarities are hard to ignore.
“I know art often overlaps, but moments like this hit hard when you’ve poured your heart into telling stories with care and barely get the recognition you deserve,” Harris wrote. “If brands want a certain look, why not hire from the source instead of for name recognition?”
So far, Harris’s post has garnered slight but not significant traction on social media. Neither Obama nor Nike has addressed the accusations. But they’re hard to ignore given the evidence at hand.