Nike is launching ‘Courage’, a branding campaign associated with the Beijing Olympics, linking the Human Race running event (August 31), the new Hyperdunk basketball sneaker, and twenty years of the ‘Just Do It’ campaign. The Nike Courage commercial charts key moments from Nike’s sporting history, including Michael Jordan embracing the NBA Championship trophy, Julie Moss crawling over the finish line in 1982, cyclist Lance Armstrong triumphing in his battle with cancer. The backing track is “All These Things That I’ve Done”, by The Killers. “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier”.
Included in the spot are basketballer LeBron James, weight lifter Vasily Alekseyev, tennis player John McEnroe, soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, basketballer Pau Gasol, long jumper Ralph Boston, hurdler Ladji Doucoure, soccer player Wayne Rooney, tennis player Maria Sharapova, steeplechaser Henry Marsh, Paralympics swimmer David Lega, gymnast Mary Lou Retton, high jumper Zhu Jianhua, hurdler Liu Xiang, marathoner Carlos Lopes, gymnast Daiane dos Santos, distance runner Steve Prefontaine, marathoner Paula Radcliffe, marathoner Joan Benoit-Samuelson, sprinter Wallace Spearmon Jr, traithlon athlete Julie Moss, skateboarder Omar Salazar, gymnast Miho Shinoda, cyclist Lance Armstrong, motorcross freestyler Kenny Bartram, BMXer Garrett Reynolds, sprinter Hasely Crawford, athlete Carl Lewis, basketballer Kobe Bryant, runner Bernard Lagat, runner Mary Decker Slaney, runner Kerry O’Brien, tennis player Pete Sampras, marathoner Manfred Neumann, runner Derek Redmond, tennis player Arthur Ashe, tennis player Roger Federer, steeplechaser Elizabeth Jackson, runner Sherone Simpson, baseballer Jon Lester, runner Michael Johnson, basketballer Michael Jordan, swimmer Romualdo Kubiak, and amputee runner Oscar Pistorius.
The quote, “Everything you need is already inside” is attributed to Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike, coach of the University of Oregon track team, 1949-1972, and inventor of the modern running shoe.
Nike Courage Credits
The Nike Courage campaign was developed at Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, by creative directors Dan Wieden, Alberto Ponte, Jeff Williams, creatives Jelly Helm, Steve Luker, and Hank Corwin, executive producer Ben Grylewicz, and agency producer Endy Hedman.
Filming was shot by Ralf Schmerberg via Radical Media, Santa Monica, with executive producer Donna Portaro and producer Ben Schneider.
Research and clearance for footage use was done by Susan Nickerson, Lizzy Eves and Dan Kern.
Online editing was done at Vendetta Post, Santa Monica. Audio post production was done at Lime Studios, Santa Monica.