Nike's "Just Do It" Turns 25

Twenty-five years ago, Nike unveiled one of the greatest tag line's in advertising history: "Just Do It".

Dan Wieden, the co-founder of Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency, coined "Just Do It" for a 1988 Nike ad campaign. Wieden evidently received his inspiration for "Just Do It" from Gary Gilmore, a convicted murder, who uttered "Let's do it" as his last words before he was executed.

Nike's first "Just Do It" advertisement debuted on July 1, 1988 featuring a then 80 year old runner named Walt Stack who had reached iconic stature in the running community at that time for having run over 60,000 miles over the course of his lifetime.

Now, Nike is celebrating the tag line's twenty-fifth birthday with the release of an new inspirational commercial, narrated by Bradley Copper and featuring Serena Williams and Lebron James.



"Just Do It" is still as amazing, relevant and powerful tag line today as it was 25 years ago.