A black-and-white portrait, a polarising endorsement
On 3 September 2018, Nike opened the 30th anniversary of Just Do It with a black-and-white close-up portrait of Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who began kneeling during the U.S. national anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice.1, 2 Across his face ran the line, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."2
The image, released through Kaepernick's own social channels, served as the prelude to Dream Crazy, a two-minute film narrated by Kaepernick and produced by Wieden+Kennedy.3, 4, 5 The campaign extended through print, social, and out-of-home placements across the United States and select international markets.
The film and its athletes
The Dream Crazy film featured a roster of athletes whose stories were positioned as departures from convention. The cast included Serena Williams, LeBron James, Eliud Kipchoge, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, Shaquem Griffin, and amateur athletes living with disabilities.5, 6 The narration framed each story around a single editorial idea, that athletic ambition is most meaningful when measured against expectation rather than outcome.
Kaepernick had not played in the National Football League since the 2016 season and had filed a collusion grievance against the league.1, 2 Nike's decision to centre the campaign on him drew immediate political response. Some consumers staged public boycotts and posted videos of burning Nike products.2 Online sales rose by 31 percent in the days following the launch.3
Strategic context and recognition
The campaign represented a calibrated extension of Nike's long-running positioning. Wieden+Kennedy had built the brand's editorial voice around outsider narratives since the original 1988 tagline.2 By placing Kaepernick at the centre of the anniversary, Nike linked a contemporary cultural debate to its founding rhetorical position, athletic performance as a personal stand against external judgement.
According to industry estimates, the campaign generated more than 163 million U.S. dollars in earned media and added approximately 6 billion U.S. dollars in brand value within weeks of launch.3 Dream Crazy won the Outstanding Commercial Emmy Award in 2019 and the Grand Prix in the Creative Effectiveness category at the 2021 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.3, 7
The campaign also documented a strategic willingness to absorb short-term reputational risk in pursuit of longer-term brand definition, a trade-off Nike has continued across subsequent campaigns including You Can't Stop Us in 2020 and Winning Isn't For Everyone at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.4, 8
Source: Guardian Sport Youtube
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. Sports Illustrated, Charlotte Carroll, "Colin Kaepernick Becomes Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary 'Just Do It' Campaign", 3 September 2018, and CBS Sports, Jared Dubin, "Nike unveils Colin Kaepernick-led 'Just Do It' campaign for its 30th anniversary", 3 September 2018, for Kaepernick having shared the portrait that opened Nike's 30th anniversary Just Do It campaign on 3 September 2018, and for his not having played since the 2016 season and having filed a collusion grievance against the NFL in October 2017. Both are off whitelist and used for corroboration only. https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/09/03/colin-kaepernick-nike-just-do-it-campaign-advertisements https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nike-unveils-colin-kaepernick-led-just-do-it-campaign-for-its-30th-anniversary
2. Wikipedia, "Colin Kaepernick", "Just Do It" and "Wieden+Kennedy", all read on 25 September 2026. "Colin Kaepernick" for his six seasons as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, 2011 to 2016, for his kneeling during the U.S. national anthem from 2016 in protest against police brutality and racial inequality, for the line on the 2018 Nike ad, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.", and for the 2016 season as his last and the collusion grievance he filed against the league in October 2017. "Just Do It" for the tagline having been coined in 1988 by Dan Wieden, founder of Wieden+Kennedy, for the 30th anniversary being marked on 5 September 2018 with the release of the video Dream Crazy, and for the boycott calls under #JustDont and #BoycottNike and protesters burning Nike shoes. "Wieden+Kennedy" for the agency having taken Nike as a client on its founding on 1 April 1982 and for Dream Crazy as its work for the anniversary in autumn 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Kaepernick https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Do_It https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieden%2BKennedy
3. Contagious, James Swift, "Cannes Lions: Creative Effectiveness Winners 2021", 24 June 2021, for the campaign having launched with a social post of a black-and-white close-up of Kaepernick's face, followed by a film he narrated, made by Wieden & Kennedy Portland, for the industry figures of $163m in earned media, $6bn added to the value of Nike's brand and a 31 percent rise in sales, and for the Grand Prix in the Creative Effectiveness category at Cannes Lions 2021. The strapline Contagious quotes, "even if it costs you everything", is the circulating paraphrase and is not the source of the line in this article. https://www.contagious.com/en/article/news-and-views/cannes-lions-creative-effectiveness-winners-2021-303da5b567b449bfb781796e95aa24a0
4. The film's agency and trade records. Wieden+Kennedy, "Nike: Dream Crazy", work page dated September 2018, for Dream Crazy as the Portland office's film celebrating 30 years of Just Do It, "the second film in the JDI series". Ads of the World, "Nike: Dream Crazy", campaign record dated September 2018, for the film published in the United States, created by Wieden + Kennedy and narrated by Colin Kaepernick. Campaign, Brittaney Kiefer, "Nike's 'Dream crazy' director on giving Colin Kaepernick a voice", for the film as a vehicle for Kaepernick's voice, as far as the open headline and standfirst go; the article text is behind the paywall and its date is not shown on the open page on 25 September 2026. Wieden+Kennedy, "Nike: You Can't Stop Us", work page dated July 2020, for that later Nike film from the Portland office, the third in the campaign of the same name. https://www.wk.com/work/nike-dream-crazy/ https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/dream-crazy https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/nikes-dream-crazy-director-giving-colin-kaepernick-voice/1587800 https://www.wk.com/work/nike-you-cant-stop-us/
5. The Drum, Kyle O'Brien, "Colin Kaepernick narrates and stars in Nike's 'Dream Crazy' film", 5 September 2018, for the two-minute film narrated by Kaepernick and for Serena Williams, LeBron James, Eliud Kipchoge and U.S. Soccer's Women's National Team among its athletes, alongside the wheelchair basketball player Megan Blunk and Isaiah Bird, a wrestler born without legs. CBS News Pittsburgh, "'Dream Crazy:' Nike Releases Full Ad Featuring Colin Kaepernick", 5 September 2018, for Shaquem Griffin, the NFL's first one-handed player, among the athletes. Both are off whitelist and used for corroboration only. https://www.thedrum.com/news/colin-kaepernick-narrates-and-stars-nike-s-dream-crazy-film https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/dream-crazy-nike-releases-full-ad-featuring-colin-kaepernick/
6. WIDD Network, "The Impact of Nike's 'Dream Crazy' Campaign", dated 16 February without a year, for Serena Williams among the athletes of the campaign, which the piece dates to 2018 and describes as narrated by Kaepernick. The further names it gives, Simone Biles and Megan Rapinoe, appear in no other account of this film and are not used here. https://www.widdnetwork.com/article-series/dream-crazy
7. Television Academy, "Dream Crazy - Nike", Emmy Awards and Nominations record, read on 25 September 2026, for the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial in 2019, credited to Wieden+Kennedy with Park Pictures as production company. https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/dream-crazy-nike
8. NIKE, Inc. Newsroom, "Great Athletes Remind the World There's Nothing Wrong With Wanting to Win", dated 26 August 2024 on the page, for Winning Isn't for Everyone debuting on 19 July 2024 "ahead of the biggest stage for sport", with an anthem film narrated by Willem Dafoe. The two Nike addresses listed with this verse carry no Dream Crazy material; news.nike.com redirects to the newsroom at about.nike.com, and both were reachable on 25 September 2026. https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/winning-isnt-for-everyone-campaign https://news.nike.com/ https://about.nike.com/
