1987: Nike Air spot features ‘Revolution’ by The Beatles
To celebrate the Ad Club of New York's 120th anniversary, The Drum is inviting readers to share their favorite marketing moments from the past 120 years.
Nike air ad
Today’s marketing moment was chosen by Jon Arnold, executive creative director at Nashville agency Bohan. Below, see why Nike Air’s 1987 ‘Revolution’ commercial is his favorite marketing moment.
That’s the ad. That’s the one ad that really cemented it for me.
Oh, I’d grown up looking at and admiring advertising. I’d been looking at AD ANNUALS since I was 11 or 12 (my older brother is in the business).
But when I saw that spot run on my parent’s console TV, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to create ads that weren’t ads. I tore Nike ads out of magazines. I bought newspapers because they had full page Nike ads. It wasn’t till a couple years later that we got a VCR that allowed me to tape their spots. I still have a nike file and I still have some of the commercial tapes. That work still holds up. It influenced so many things. Movies. Athletes. Role Models — Nike historians will know what I’m talking about. Actually, I think I have that spot on one of my tapes. Now I just have to find a VCR.
See the full 120 Marketing Moments in the dedicated online section and find out how to purchase the exclusive book.