Nike’s new ad shows how much their brand and our world have changed.
it was 1988. The great Wieden & Kennedy agency launched one of the most memorable, most meaningful taglines ever. Looking back to ‘88, you could argue that maybe, just maybe, it was reflective of a more innocent, or at least naïve, time Of course “Just Do It” was inspired by the last words of murderer Gary Gilmore as we was marched to the electric chair, so maybe it wasn’t THAT innocent of a time.
Thinking back on the Just Do It phenomenon, Dan Wieden remarked, “For some reason that line resonated deeply in the athletic community and just as deeply with people who had little or no connection to sports.”
So, basically, it perfectly positioned the brand.
More than just an ad slogan though, Just Do It became for many a guiding principle. It is credited for playing a role in the growing popularity of distance running, cross-training and other attempts to get and keep fit. Or, as Wieden noted, one that “spoke to the hardest hardcore athletes as well as those talking up a morning walk.” As much as saying you SHOULD do it, the line encouraged many to think they COULD do it.
The notion of just doing it, as presented by Nike and W&K, used sports as a fulcrum for social justice—providing the foundation for the groundbreaking, positively brilliant, “If You Let Me Play” campaign.
Now, let’s fast-forward 36 years to the present. Nike has dispensed with soft-headed notions of participation and athletics as a means of self-improvement. Gone is the celebration of participation for participation’s sake. Just doing it just doesn’t cut it anymore. Perhaps they are just holding up a mirror to society, but now the message focuses entirely on “winning”–specifically, how winners are the special ones among us willing to do whatever it takes to come out ahead. To “take what’s yours and never give it back.”
How’s that for chilling?
With a taunting, teasing, sneering voiceover by Green Goblin himself, Willem Dafoe … not to mention editing that turns even beloved young stars like Victor Wembanyama into Dr. Evil … the ad delivers a message that is by its very definition, divisive and exclusionary.
Not sure about you, but I get more than enough of that message from what passes for news these days. So, let’s all forgot about just doing it. Because it’s not about doing. It’s about winning. And winning isn’t for everybody, you know?
It’s certainly not Nike’s job to make me feel better about the world. It used to be about making me feel better about myself, though. Oh well. At least it’s good to know where Nike stands these days, I guess.