17 A LITTLE WEIRDNESS GOES
A LONG WAY

Dan Wieden is an adman and as such is a natural storyteller. One of his favourite stories relates to the creation of one of the world’s most famous advertising end-lines and illustrates the benefits of “incorporating a little weirdness into the creative process”.

The line in question is Nike’s, and the weirdness is the source of inspiration for that line – the last words of a murderer, Gary Gilmore, who was executed in 1977.

In 1988, Dan was working on a new campaign for Nike and, while he and his team had decided on a series of clips of different athletes from different sports, the problem was that the campaign lacked an end-line and the presentation to an expectant client was fast approaching.

Working late into the night, Weiden suddenly found himself thinking about Gary Gilmore.

“So it’s the middle of the night, and I’m sitting at my desk and I’m thinking about how Gilmore died. This was in Utah, and they dragged Gilmore out in front of the firing squad. Before they put the hood over his head, the chaplain asks Gilmore if he has any last words. And Gilmore pauses and he says ‘Let’s do it’.

“And I remember thinking, ‘That is so fucking courageous’. Here is this guy calling for his own death.

“And then the next thing I know I’m thinking about my shoe commercials. I didn’t like the way it was said, actually, so I made it a little different. I wrote ‘Just Do It’ on a piece of paper and as soon as I saw it, I knew. That was my slogan.”

And the moral is that inspiration sometimes strikes when you least expect it. What could you do to take your mind off a problem and let you mind wander?