The Dark Origin of Nike's Just Do It Slogan

In 1977, a man faced a firing squad in a Utah state prison and said three words. A decade later, an ad man changed one of them and handed them to the entire world.

In this episode I trace the full origin of the "Just Do It" campaign, from Phil Knight selling shoes out of a car trunk to the moment Dan Wieden pitched a line Knight famously called unnecessary. The emotional branding playbook, the Jordan deal that was three times the industry standard, the Banned campaign built around a rule Nike never actually broke, and the ecosystem trap that turns your running app into a shoe subscription you never signed up for.

Plus my personal story of growing up as the kid who couldn't afford the Swoosh, and what it cost me long before I could afford it financially.

Next time you lace up, you're going to hear those three words a little differently.