The year was 1988. Nike was in a bit of a tailspin, honestly. Reebok was actually beating them in sales because they had jumped on the aerobics craze while Nike stayed stuck in the mud of hardcore running. Dan Wieden, the co-founder of the ad agency Wieden+Kennedy, sat in his office the night before a huge presentation. He needed something to tie five disparate TV spots together. He scribbled a few options. One of them was "Just Do It."
Phil Knight, Nike's legendary co-founder, hated it.
"We don't need that s***," Knight famously told Wieden. It’s wild to think about now, but the most iconic tagline in history almost died on the cutting room floor because the boss thought it was unnecessary. Wieden pushed back. He told Knight to trust him. That single moment of friction birthed a campaign that didn’t just sell sneakers—it fundamentally changed how brands talk to humans.
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The Gritty Origin of the Just Do It Nike Advert
You might’ve heard the rumors about where the phrase came from. They’re true. Wieden was inspired by the final words of a convicted murderer named Gary Gilmore. Right before his execution by firing squad in Utah in 1977, Gilmore reportedly said, "Let's do it." Wieden just tweaked it slightly to give it more "oomph."
The first just do it nike advert didn’t feature a superstar like Michael Jordan or Bo Jackson. Instead, it featured an 80-year-old man named Walt Stack.
In the commercial, Walt is shirtless, jogging across the Golden Gate Bridge in the morning mist. He looks every bit of eighty. He tells the camera he runs 17 miles every morning. Then he cracks a joke about how he keeps his teeth from chattering in the winter—he leaves them in his locker. It was raw. It was funny. It was deeply human.
That was the shift. Before this, sports marketing was about the "elite." It was about the untouchable athlete. Suddenly, Nike was telling the person sitting on their couch eating chips that they, too, could be an athlete. The barrier to entry was gone. The ad wasn't selling the specs of the shoe; it was selling the feeling of movement.
Why 1988 Changed Everything for Brand Voice
If you look at the business climate of the late 80s, ads were loud and flashy. Nike went the other way. They went with minimalism. The "Just Do It" campaign worked because it functioned as a blank slate.
Think about it.
Those three words mean whatever you need them to mean. If you're a pro trying to win a championship, just do it. If you're a guy trying to lose twenty pounds, just do it. If you’re a kid trying to get through a math test, just do it. It’s an empty vessel that the consumer fills with their own personal struggle.
Jerome Conlon, who was the Director of Marketing Planning at Nike back then, noted that the brand’s sales exploded after the launch. In 1988, Nike had about $1.2 billion in sales. By 1998, they were hitting over $9.2 billion. That isn't just a marketing win; that’s a cultural takeover. The just do it nike advert turned a niche track shoe company into a global lifestyle behemoth.
The Ads That Actually Moved the Needle
We can't talk about this campaign without mentioning the "Bo Knows" era. Bo Jackson was the ultimate "Just Do It" avatar because he literally did everything. He played pro baseball and pro football. He was the superhuman exception to every rule.
But then Nike would pivot.
They’d show a young girl talking about the confidence she got from playing sports. Or they’d show a "Just Do It" ad featuring Ric Munoz, an HIV-positive marathon runner, in 1995. This was incredibly controversial at the time. Many brands were terrified of being associated with the AIDS crisis. Nike didn't care. They leaned in.
They realized that "doing it" often meant overcoming societal prejudice, not just a physical hill. This gave the brand a soul. It made people feel like wearing the Swoosh meant you stood for something. Even if that "something" was just the refusal to quit.
The Controversy Factor: Colin Kaepernick and the Modern Pivot
Fast forward to 2018. The 30th anniversary of the just do it nike advert.
Nike decided to feature Colin Kaepernick. The tagline? "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."
People lost their minds. Videos surfaced of people literally burning their Nike socks and shoes. The stock price took a temporary dip. Critics claimed Nike had made a fatal business error by getting "political."
They were wrong.
Nike knew exactly who their core demographic was. They weren't worried about the person burning their shoes; they were looking at the next generation of athletes who valued social justice as much as performance. Within weeks, Nike's online sales surged by 31%. They proved that "Just Do It" wasn't just a relic of the 80s—it was a living, breathing philosophy that could adapt to the current social climate.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Slogan
A lot of folks think the slogan is a command. Like Nike is yelling at you to get off your butt.
I don't see it that way.
If you look at the cinematography of those early ads, there’s a lot of silence. There’s a lot of heavy breathing. It’s more of an invitation than a command. It’s a dismissal of excuses. It’s Nike saying, "We know it’s hard. We know you’re tired. We know you’re scared. Do it anyway."
The genius of the just do it nike advert is that it acknowledges the resistance. It doesn't pretend that exercise is always fun or that winning is easy. It highlights the grind.
Key Elements of the Campaign's Success:
- The Typography: Futura Bold Condensed. It’s authoritative but not bulky. It looks like it’s moving.
- The Audio: Nike often used "found sound." The squeak of a sneaker on a court. The wind. The heavy exhale. It made the ads feel like a documentary rather than a pitch.
- The Athletes: They chose people with stories, not just stats.
Actionable Insights for Brand Building
You don't need a billion-dollar budget to learn from what Nike did here. Whether you’re a creator, a small business owner, or a marketing professional, the "Just Do It" blueprint is repeatable if you have the guts.
- Stop talking about yourself. Notice that the best Nike ads barely mention the shoes. They talk about the person using the shoes. Flip your messaging. Stop listing your features and start describing the transformation your customer experiences.
- Find your "Enemy." For Nike, the enemy wasn't Reebok. The enemy was laziness. It was the voice in your head telling you to stay in bed. Identify the internal struggle your audience is facing and position yourself as the tool they use to win that battle.
- Simplicity wins. If Wieden had used a long-winded sentence about "maximizing your athletic potential through innovative footwear design," we wouldn't be talking about it thirty-five years later. Three words. That’s all it took. If you can't explain what you do in five words or less, you don't understand it well enough yet.
- Embrace the "Walt Stacks" of your industry. Don't just look for the polished influencers. Look for the people who are actually doing the work in an unglamorous way. Authenticity usually lives in the fringes, not the mainstream.
Nike showed us that a brand can be more than a logo. It can be a personal manifesto. The next time you see a just do it nike advert, don't just look at the shoes. Look at the way they make you feel like your excuses are suddenly very, very small.
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To apply this to your own projects, start by stripping away the fluff. Look at your current marketing or personal goals. Find the one thing you're avoiding because it’s "too simple" or "too risky." Do that thing first. Cut the jargon. Speak to the human, not the consumer. That’s how you build something that actually lasts.