Nike Took a Murderer’s Last Words and Turned It Into a Simple Life Lesson

“In a plain T-shirt with a bag over his head, [Gary] Gilmore was strapped into a chair, waiting for a firing squad to execute him at Utah State Prison. It was the morning of Jan. 17, 1977, and Gilmore, convicted of murdering a gas station employee and motel manager in Utah the year before, was to become the first person in the United States to be executed in nearly a decade.” — Washington Post

Gilmore was asked if he had any last words. Before his imminent death and rounds of bullets were to enter his 36-year-old body, Gilmore said three words:

“Let’s do it.”

Who Was Gary Gilmore?

Gary had a troubling childhood. Born in 1940 in Stonewall, Texas, Gary was one of four children to Frank and Bessie Gilmore. His father, Frank, was a conman, alcoholic, and abusive. It’s an understatement to say that the kids were raised in an unstable and often violent household.

When Gary turned 10, the family was living in Portland, and he began to show signs of trouble. Gary began walking down the criminal path paved by his father. He started with petty crimes, escalating into auto theft and assault. Gary spent almost half his life in prison before he was 35.

Gary received a conditional release in May 1976 at which point he moved to Provo, Utah with his cousin and seemingly was on track to a normal life. But a short two months after his release, he robbed a gas station at gunpoint and killed Max Jensen, the attendant working that day. The next day, Gary robbed Ben Bushnell, a motel manager. Both of his victims complied with his demands. Gary was arrested at the edge of town after his cousin informed the police.

His case went on trial and Gary was found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death and on January 17, 1977, he uttered his last three words.

Little did he know that his infamous last words would catapult a struggling athletic company into one of the world’s most iconic and renowned brands a decade later.

“Let’s Do It” Turns Into “Just Do It”

It was 1987 and Dan Wieden, of Wieden + Kennedy, was tasked with coming up with a new marketing strategy for Nike. They were struggling to keep up with Reebok and needed to shift gears. Wieden’s advertising agency had some money behind filming some 30-second television campaigns. Some were funny, some were more solemn and serious.

They needed a tagline to bring all these individual television spots together.

Wieden, like Gilmore, was a native of Portland. He knew of Gilmore’s life story and his infamous last words. Gilmore’s last three words stuck in Wieden’s head, except he didn’t like “Let’s do it” so he changed it to “Just do it” and marketing history was born.

The Slogan Has Survived for 30 Years

One of the first ads with “Just Do It” featured an 80-year-old man, shirtless and running on the Golden Gate Bridge. Walt Stack ran 17 miles every morning.

Since the launch of “Just Do It”, Nike’s sales increased by 1,000% over the next ten years.

Those three little words uttered as the last words from a murderer have helped Nike become one of the most iconic sports brands in the world.

How?

It certainly wasn’t because of the inspiration behind it and most companies don’t make it public knowledge that their slogan was stolen from a murderer on death row.

No.

It was how Nike (and their advertising agency) was able to draw the intention behind those three little words. Their commercials and advertising campaigns made it feel personal. Walt running 17 miles every day seems impossible for most people but he just does it, every day, without fail.

“It cut across age and class barriers, linked Nike with success — and made consumers believe they could be successful too just by wearing its products.” — Campaign Magazine

It Takes All the Complexities in Life and Simplifies It

That’s it, isn’t it?

Most companies and brands tell you what to buy and why you should be buying from them. They give you a list of millions of things their products are made out of (or not made out of), what they can do to improve your sex life, your looks, your health, your career. Most brands force you to look at what you can buy to make your life better. That’s the goal of business after all.

However, the brilliance of “Just Do It” is that it forces you to look inwards. It makes you question yourself and forces you to ask that potentially pivotal question of “Why can’t I just do it?”

As Dan Wieden said:

“I think what happened and it was sort of, like with a lot of things in life, it’s the most inadvertent things you don’t really see. People started reading things into it, much more than sport.”

Customers Crave Simplicity

The brilliance of Nike’s slogan is that it gets into the heart of the agonizing psychological hardship of starting… anything.

We want life to be simple. We want to do away with the complexities of making decisions, trying new things, having a house filled with too much stuff, or not having enough stuff. We don’t want to be bombarded by ads filled with glamor and excess.

Nike took everyday struggles and made them simple. Those three little words took the complexities of our intentions, goals, ambitions, purpose, and boiled it down to just needing to start. They don’t dive into how your life could change if you buy their shoes. They don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs of what you’re going through — they just want you to start.

Just do it.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as that.

This story was originally published on Medium.