Wieden+Kennedy’s London blog editor (surely a full-time role, given the scope of his or her researches) has unearthed the first Nike ads from W+K Portland in 1982, the year the agency was founded.
These were thought to have disappeared (this was the pre-YouTube era after all) but scholars worldwide will be grateful for their surprise reappearance, especially as they were were crafted by Wieden (Dan) and Kennedy (David) in person.
Would you have predicted the agency would go on to worldwide fame and, presumably, fortune? You may well have done (this was 1982). Interesting to note that the development of running into a huge worldwide industry was, in part at least, prompted by the introduction of ‘people’s marathons,’ in this case the New York Marathon in that year.
A fortunate happening for messrs Wieden and Kennedy and, indeed, Phil Knight of Nike.
