Wednesday, March 18, 2015

An Odd Bit of Ad History

We've all seen the Nike sneaker ads with the catch-phrase "Just do it!"  But what I didn't know is that it first appeared in TV ads in 1988, long after the guy that said it had faced a firing squad in Utah.  Gary Gilmore, 37 was executed January 17, 1977, for murdering two men, smoking gun literally in his left hand.

Dan Wieden of Wieden + Kennedy Advertising was asked by Nike to give them a tagline for five very different 30-second spots.   And it popped into his mind.  Gilmore's actual words were  "Let's do it" and he changed it to "Just do it."

Gilmore was a man of my heart (except for the murdering thing.)  After the ACLU got him two (unwanted) stays of execution, he said, "They always want to get in on the act.  I don't they have ever done anything effective in their lives.  I would like them all to just butt out.  This is my life and my death."  The ACLU's two stays did affect Gilmore.  After both of them he attempted suicide.  A man that liked his own way.

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Jay Simpson, a South Bay Writer's Workshop member, has a new past time - writing clever and funny "Ramblings."  Here two recent ones.

Never borrow money from a leprechaun; they always come up a little short.

I don't like bookkeeping so you could say I have no taste for accounting.











act.  I don't think

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