The Dark Origin of Nike's Iconic Tagline; And How Blackjack Saved FedEx from Going Under

The Dark Origin of Nike's Iconic Tagline

According to its creator Dan Wieden, of the Wieden & Kennedy ad agency, it’s directly based on the last words of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, who was executed by firing squad at Utah State Prison on January 17, 1977. 

He’d been arrested just a few months earlier, shortly after he shot and killed, without apparent motive, a gas station attendant (Max Jensen) and later a motel clerk (Bernie Bushnell) outside Salt Lake City, Utah. It was a pretty open and shut case, so much so that his two-man defense team didn’t bother to cross examine any of the state’s witnesses, or call any of their own. 

In a 2021 interview with A&E True Crime, one of those attorneys, Michael Esplin, basically explained why:

‘He was not a very good criminal… He shot himself [in the hand] with his own gun and left a trail of blood, and he did it in front of a star witness [a motel guest].’

They did attempt to make an insanity defense, claiming Gilmore wasn’t of sound mind when he did what he did, but it failed to convince the independent panel of psychiatrists assigned to the case. He was convicted of first degree murder on October 7, 1977, just the second day of his trial, and sentenced to death.

Utah had two authorized methods of execution at the time: hanging, and firing squad. When presented with the choice, Esplin recalled Gilmore saying: ‘I’d rather be shot,’ although he never explained why. It was originally scheduled for November 15, 1977, but after an unwanted intervention the ACLU, he received a couple different stays of execution that only managed to slightly delay the inevitable. While they claimed they were acting on his behalf, Gilmore wasn’t at all interested in their help. At a November 1st hearing to determine whether or not he’d get a new trial, he told the judge that he didn’t want to ‘languish in prison for another day.’