Some, seeing Nike's endorsement of Kaepernick as a betrayal of patriotic values, chose to quite publicly announce their boycott of Nike by posting videos of themselves burning their Nike shoes. Some on the left also took issue with the ad, citing it as an example of "commodity activism," whereby corporations co-opt a social movement for profits. 1988 - First "Just Do It" campaign launches with ad featuring 80-year-old running icon Walter Stack running across the Golden Gate Bridge. 2004 - Phil Knight steps down as CEO and president of Nike, but retains chairman role as William D. Perez becomes the company's new CEO. Knight claims that the Japanese company was seeking a way out of its exclusivity deal with Blue Ribbon and sought to sink the company. The slogan was inspired by serial killer Gary Gilmore's last words “Let's do it” before he was executed by firing squad in 1977. The shoe's ad campaign … Davis charged  $2/hour and received a total of $35 for the logo. This controversy only intensified with Donald Trump making criticism of the protest Kaepernick started a central talking point in his campaign and, later, presidency. Following the split with Tiger, Blue Ribbon Sports fully rebranded itself as Nike. It became a cult favorite of skateboarders and, later, vintage sneaker collectors. Get more information and a free trial subscription toTheStreet's Retirement Dailyto learn more about saving for and living in retirement. As pointed out by Greenpeace, this affects everything from factory workers to waterways to consumers. The poster was an instant hit with consumers and has became legendary in the design industry for pretty much launching the advertising ethos of Nike itself. The company was founded on a principle of finding cheaper labor to produce same-quality goods and followed this unfailingly, till it finally came back to bite them. 1989 - "Bo Knows" ad campaign drops featuring baseball and football star Bo Jackson. Nike started a three-decade run of classic advertising with its "Just do it" campaign in 1988. 2003 - Nike signs Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. Style :318403-141 Colorway :White/College Blue-Chrome-Deep Red Nike’s famous ‘What The?’ concept started with the Dunk Low SB ‘What The Dunk,’ which released as part of a marketing campaign for Nothing but the Truth, Nike SB’s first skate film featuring Nike Read More “Just Do It” was also part of an aggressive marketing campaign in 1988, with Nike spending a reported $40 million on advertising that year. The Story of Dunk is the second oral history of a Nike sneaker to receive a documentary treatment this year. The company's other greatest asset has been its celebrity endorsements. This uncontested giant of the field has built itself up through high-profile endorsements, sleek designs, and PR campaigns successful enough to etch its way into pop-culture history. The first 50 pairs came in a wooden box with a poster, lobster claw rubber band, a tee shirt, and a box with a shell cracker, fork, bib, wet nap, and butter-colored shoelaces, everything with “Concepts Fishing Company” stamped on it. The first Nike TV ad was launched in 1982, created by a pioneer agency (Wieden + Kennedy), while the NY Marathon was being broadcasted. Nike has claimed to be working toward elimination of these toxic chemicals. (NKE) - Get Report  closed at $81.03 a share, down 2.75%, on Aug. 14. Nike Dubbed the Tiger Cortez, the shoe dropped in 1967 and became an instant hit for its comfortable, sturdy, and stylish design. Despite having never worn a pair of Nikes before and harboring hope for a deal with Adidas, Jordan ended up signing on with Nike after a meeting in which they promised the soon-to-be star $500,000 a year for five years, two die cast Mercedes cars, and shoes customized to his specific requests. The story of Nike begins with the story of Blue Ribbon Sports back in 1964. 2015 - Nike becomes official supplier for NBA apparel. Nike ads became better and better as time went by, and Nike w named Advertiser of the year event two times (1994 and 2003). Nike responds by instating its first factory codes of conduct. But nevertheless, the idea had taken root, and with the help of another waffle iron and presumably a good spray, he designed his ideal sole and the iconic "Waffle Trainer" was born. Nike SB Dunk Low “Danny Supa” (2002) The official debut of the SB Dunk consisted of four colourful … Nike’s audience is versatile. 2002 - Nike acquires surf-apparel company Hurley. The Dunk's debut coincided with the now iconic “Be True to Your School” advertising campaign. 2004 - Nike acquires Converse for $309 million. College Colors teams included UNLV, Arizona, Iowa, Georgia, Syracuse, Georgetown and Kentucky. By far the most lucrative endorsement Nike has ever had, both for the company and its sponsor, has been with Michael Jordan. One of Nikes earliest advertising campaigns was the ‘There is no finish line’ campaign, created by John Brown and Partners. The choice to drop the shoe nevertheless sparked a media firestorm with conservative pundits and social media commentators criticizing Nike for its lack of patriotism. Days before the Fourth of July, the company canceled the release of a sneaker bearing the 13-star American flag of Betsy Ross on the shoe's heel. At just 9.8 ounces in the industry-standard size 9, the high-top Crazy Light broke new ground in hoops, pushing below the 10-ounce barrier for the first time. Outside of the political sphere, Nike has also unveiled plans for a subscription service for kids. It'll be Nike's first test of this and opens the door for kids 2 through 10 to have varying access across a selection of roughly 100 shoes for a monthly fee. Since then, the company has only continued to grow, helped on in part by a series of clever ad campaigns, most famously the 1988 "Just Do It" ad campaign (apparently inspired by the last words of American murderer Gary Gilmore before the firing squad, "Let's do it."). EmailRobert.Powell@TheStreet.com. And so, in August 1985, the Nike Dunk High was born: a sneaker that offered athletes and fans a way to sport their college team’s colours with flair. As with many companies in 2019, Nike's fate has been closely tied to the ongoing speculation over tariffs in the current China-U.S. trade war. 1987 - Nike drops ad for new Air Max shoes set to The Beatles' "Revolution," making it the first ad to use the band's music. Before this though, the new brand needed its own logo. To understand Nike Danny Supa’s colorway of the SB Dunk Low was the second iteration … The company has been proactive in dealing with this issue, slowly shifting more of its operations from China into Vietnam. Nike dropped the first Dunk sneakers in 1985. Got questions about money, retirement and/or investments? As well as Michael Jordan, Nike have sponsored some of the biggest names in basketball and world sport including LeBron James, Charles Barkley, Ken Griffey Jr, Roy Jones Jr, Lance Armstrong, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Ronaldinho. Nike Launches Mysterious 1985 Lost Shipment Campaign: Please call 1.800.561.1985 with any info. 1990 - First Niketown store opens in Portland, Oregon. The deal proved a smash hit for Nike, with Jordan quickly rising to super stardom and his shoe line, Air Jordans, hitting the market to make over $100 million in revenue by the end of 1985. But the brand of Lebron James, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan didn't come from nowhere. The very first campaign featuring the now iconic slogan “Just Do It” launches. ZOO ... First up was Zoo York, who Danny Supa rode for at the time. We’re currently taking on new projects and would love to hear from you. Given that Nike manufactures roughly 27% of its apparel in China, the prospect of increasing tariffs poses a real problem to its supply chain. The brand's previous "Raygun" sneakers, using yellow and orange colorways and a basketball-headed alien character, reference a fictional ABA … Colleges were a huge part of the Nike Dunk marketing campaign, and sneaker fans consider it the original Nike team shoe. After the University of Oregon, Knight went through Stanford's MBA program, during which he wrote a paper theorizing that the production of running shoes should move from its current center in Germany to Japan, where labor was cheaper. It's never too late - or too early - to plan and invest for the retirement you deserve. Nike’s campaign featuring Chris Mosier, the first transgender athlete to compete on a U.S. National team, showed the brand’s commitment to inclusion in addition to the JUST DO IT mindset Mosier embodied. He received a mix of support and backlash from the public, with some calling him a hero and others criticizing his actions as "un-American.". 1964 - Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman found Blue Ribbon Sports. Over 2019, most news on Nike has revolved around its political stances. Reportedly, this decision came after Colin Kaepernick privately voiced his criticisms of the design to Nike, seeing as the 13-star flag represented America during a time of slavery and has been used in tandem with the Confederate flag by hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan. The Nike X Stüssy dunk has a strong London and Gimme 5 (Stüssy’s UK distributor) influence – the shoe is the combined work of Michael Kopelman, Simon Porter and Fraser Cooke. Either way, the two formally split in 1971 with a lawsuit from Tiger following. Not much was noted of this until activist Jeff Ballinger published a report in 1991, documenting the poor working conditions of Nike's operations across Indonesia. Here at Union Room we are always interested in what a few brands are up to, one of those brands is Nike. Still, Jerome Conlon, then the … Even if it means sacrificing everything," and the classic Nike slogan, "Just Do It." Otis Davis insists to this day that Bowerman made the shoes for him. The memorable ‘Be True to Your School’ print ad features the Nike Dunk as the centerpiece of Nike’s College Colors program, the first campaign featuring bold colors on basketball shoes. Spotting potential, Nike tried to swoop in for an endorsement from Jordan before the start of his first season with the pros in 1984. Jordan continues to make roughly $100 million a year in Nike royalties alone. Nike SB Dunk Low “Paris” Release Date: August 2003 Significance: This pair was also part of the … After founding Blue Ribbon Sports, Knight tested the waters for his imported shoes, initially selling them out of his car when he came back to the States. Nike Dunk SB Between 1998 and 2000, the popularity of the Dunk soared even higher. How did what started as one man selling shoes from the back of a car grow into the sportswear giant we all know today? What distinguishes Nike from other shoe brands is that it taps into the power of influencer marketing the smart way. The primary environmental criticism following Nike has been its refusal to eliminate hazardous materials from its supply chain. This comes at a time when apparel companies are increasingly looking toward subscription-based models to attract customers. They struck big signing athletes like Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James in the early stages of their career. 1991 - Activist Jeff Ballinger publishes report exposing low wages and poor working conditions among Indonesian Nike factories. Phil Knight reluctantly settled on a swoosh design, reportedly saying, "Well, I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on me." According to Nike, Knight was the first student to try one of Bowerman's shoes. Knight accepted the offer, and, supposedly, the shoes worked so well that his teammate Otis Davis took them and ended up using them to win gold in the 400-meter dash in the 1960 Olympics. Unfortunately, he forgot to add any anti-stick agent onto the iron and it glued shut. Tiger claims to have discovered Blue Ribbon Sports selling their own version of the Tiger Cortez under a new line of shoes they called "Nike.". Nike collaborate with a clothing company for the first time. The Swoosh was really interested in the skateboarders popularizing its brand. © 2020 TheStreet, Inc. All rights reserved. Knight got the chance to put this theory to the test with a trip to Japan shortly after his 1962 graduation. below. After concentrating on the running and athletics industry for a number of years, Nike began branching out into other sports. Nike's first ever "Just Do It" ad debuted on July 1, 1988 (a red letter year for Swoosh ads, see below) and featured 80-year-old Walt Stack running over the Golden Gate Bridge. Air Jordans continue to be a cash cow for Nike. Accepted file types: pdf, jpg, ai, psd, doc, docx, txt, pages, zip, rar. This proved largely ineffectual, with most people mocking Nike boycotters on social media, and the company's stock soaring, increasing by over $6 billion less than a month after the campaign began. As the economies of these countries developed, Nike again shifted, moving away from labor in South Korea and Taiwan to focus on China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The company began sponsoring track & field athletes like Carl Lewis and Sebastian Coe as well as famous players in other sports, this was eventually shown in their advertising for individual players: Perhaps the most important sponsorship signing in the history of Nike was the signing of basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984. Bearing similarities to the Jordan I and the Terminator—both introduced the same year and designed by the same team—the Dunk boasted the same tech and construction as its peers. It quickly became clear that a demand existed for these cheaper but still high-quality alternatives to the Adidas  Nike SB Dunk Low Pro. There’s no doubt that Nike ‘s SB Dunk Low sneaker has been one of the most popular silhouettes this year, with collaborations with everyone from Ben & Jerry’s to AMBUSH and Cactus Plant Flea Marke t. (NKE) - Get Report requires understanding a story that began with a self-described average track runner coming out of college and a coach obsessed with the connection between speed and design. 1987 - Nike drops ad for new Air Max shoes set to The Beatles' "Revolution," making it the first ad to use the band's music. Outrage fermented among the public, with protests against the shoe ware giant at the 1992 Olympics and an increased media scrutiny on the plight of sweatshop workers. With protests around college campuses, calls for boycotting the company, and pressure put on its stars like Michael Jordan to denounce the brand, Nike made a concerted effort in 1998 to improve the labor conditions of its factories.