"Just Do It" is something we all know from Nike. I last wrote about what I believe the slogan came from and how I think of it when I buy or use their products. I found that what I thought made the slogan the slogan was not even close. Nike hired in a ad agency by the name of Wieden and Kennedy, and Dan Wieden, the founder of this ad agency, based the "just do it" slogan off of known murder from the 70's last words, "Let's Do it". I still am in shock that this is where it came from. Nike has actually gone out of their way to make sure it is trademarked so tightly to them because they didn't want anyone else to get their hands on this "idea". I thought this was very interesting and also crazy at the same time.
Something else I found out is that "Just Do It" is part of their slogan but the unspoken slogan really is, "if you have a body, you should use it". I personally feel like this is a way better slogan. It pushes a foundation that we should stay healthy, stay active and always "do it" in a sense. I guess it is a way of reinforcing the actual slogan. It did make me wonder why they didn't use this as their slogan instead though so it is also very straight forward. The only thing I could find, is that slogans should be short and precise. Which overall make sense.
Through my digging into the company, I also found a lot of sad truths to Nike. They had a lot of outsourced warehouses for making their cloths/shoes. Sadly the area these warehouses are in have a lot of child labor. It made me start thinking of this assignment more. How propaganda could be used to revel truths or make something that is terrible seem good. Nike has been known for supporting black athletes for example, but also have young Africans making their shoes. They use a lot of diversity in their ads, but don't seem to hold that same standard at headquarters.
I also wanted to look into their logo as well. I feel like when you hear "Just do it" you also think of the check mark. I found that the check mark and the design of the check mark is actually based upon the Greek Goddess of Victory. They wanted something that would state them being a winner and that they are always victorious. If you take this with the "Just Do It" slogan, you end up with a branding that makes people feel victorious and like they can "Just Do It". These things also symbolize that they wanted their company to be victorious.
I believe that through my research I have found that the shocking truth behind the "Just Do It" slogan and where it came from, along with the fact Nike has some shocking history. They have been in trouble plenty of times for child labor facilities, yet we still by from them. How does that work? I think my next piece will be creating something that will force us to think about if these things are good or bad.