OBSERVARE Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa e-ISSN: 1647-7251 Thematic dossier International Relations and Social Networks July 2021 44 SPORTS CELEBRITY AS AN INTERMEDIARY AND CULTURAL INSTRUMENT OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND ETHNIC-RACIAL EQUALITY. A STUDY OF THE CORPORATE CAMPAIGN "COMMON THREAD", PUBLISHED BY THE SPORTS BRAND NIKE ON INSTAGRAM JAVIER DÍAZ-BAJO RODRIGUEZ javier.diazb@edu.uah.es Ph.D. candidate and Assistant Professor of Audiovisual Communication and Researcher at the University of Alcalá (Spain). Member of the research group Images, Words and Ideas. His research focuses on discursive and narrative practices conducted by corporate brands through digital media. RUT MARTÍNEZ-BORDA rut.martinez@uah.es Professor of Audiovisual Communication and Research Fellow at the University of Alcalá (Spain). Dr Martínez-Borda is a member of the research group Images, Words and Ideas. Her research focuses on human practices supported by digital technologies, audiovisual narratives, videogames and fandom. Her current projects are supported by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education. She has been a visiting scholar at the Institute of Education (University of London); University of Westminster in London; University of Delaware in Philadelphia. Abstract Corporate brands play a social role through the discourses they broadcast on their social media. The sports celebrity acts as a cultural intermediary and communicating instrument in the value system that the brand brings together in defence of social, cultural and ethnic diversity (Turner, 2004; Erdogan, 1999; Marshall, 1997). From this perspective, the aim of this proposal is to detect the socio-cultural elements that articulate the discourse constructed by the Nike sports brand in defence of racial and ethnic equality in sport. Methodologically, the content analysis approach is adopted (Krippendorff, 2013). The data consists of 3 short films that make up a campaign created by the sports brand Nike called "Common Thread". The criterion for their selection was the discursive projection that the brand emits in favour of socio-cultural equality on Instagram. In order to define the model of analysis, the classical studies of Greimas (1976) and McCracken (1989) is taken as a starting point. The results show that the brand manifests itself on social media as a social agent that promotes equality and racial-ethnic rights for the black sports community through sport and culture. Keywords Brand; values; celebrity; discourse; social media. How to cite this article Díaz-Bajo Rodriguez, Javier; Martínez-Borda, Rut. Sports celebrity as an intermediary and cultural instrument of fundamental rights and ethnic-racial equality. A study of the corporate campaign "common thread", published by the sports brand NIKE on Instagram. Janus.net, e- journal of international relations. Thematic dossier International Relations and Social Networks, July 2021. Consulted [online] on date of last visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647- 7251.DT21.4 Article received on January 5, 2021 and accepted for publication on March 21, 2021