Dan Wieden met David Kennedy in 1980, at the William Cain advertising agency while working on

the Nike account. They took Nike with them as a client after founding Wieden & Kennedy (later changed to
Wieden+Kennedy) on April 1, 1982, and remain the agency of record.
[4]

Over the years, the agency has added offices in New York
City, London, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Delhi and in late 2010, So Paulo. W+K's turbulent
relationship with former client Subaru is the basis of Randall Rothenberg's 1995 book Where the Suckers
Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign.
[5]

Media[edit]
Main article: WKE (WKEntertainment)
Wieden+Kennedy has created original content for various brands under the moniker W+K Entertainment since
2001. Its productions include Battlegrounds,
[6]
an MTV2 series showcasing streetball;
[7]
Ginga,
[8]
a documentary
about Brazilian football (soccer) players; and Road to Paris,
[9]
documenting Lance Armstrong's path to his
third Tour de Francevictory in 2001.
In 2003, Wieden+Kennedy created W+K Tokyo Lab, a record label and creative workshop based out of the
agency's Tokyo office. Since 2003, W+K Tokyo Lab has released CD/DVD titles that combine music, graphics,
and film. Tokyo Lab's current roster features local hip-hop and electronic artists including Hifana, DJ
Uppercut, Afra, and Takagi Masakatsu.
2004 saw the launch of "Wieden+Kennedy 12", a 13-month experimental advertising program that accepts 13
applicants each year for an intensive laboratory experience where students work for real clients under the
direction of members of the W+K Portland office.
In 2006, Wieden+Kennedy debuted an afternoon showcase of established and emerging musical artists in the
atrium of W+K's Portland office, dubbed the "LunchBox" concert series. Past concerts have featured Janelle
Mone, Art Brut, The Rapture, Son Volt, Lyrics Born, Ladytron, Cut Chemist, Cold War Kids, Nada Surf, Juliette
and the Licks, andPete Yorn.
Wieden+Kennedy's exploration into original programming was started in late 2008 with WK Radio,
[10]
and
subsequently in Fall 2009 with WKEntertainment.
Awards[edit]
Two of the agency's television ads for Nike have won Emmy Awards: "The Morning After," which featured a
runner on New Year's Day in 2000, not noticing that every dire Y2Kprediction has come to pass; and "Move,"
which edited seamlessly dozens of athletes and children moving from one sport or activity to another. The
Morning After aired in late 1999 and won the Emmy in 2000; Move aired during the 2002 Winter Olympics and
won the Emmy that year.
In 2002, the Gunn Report named W+K as the most-awarded agency in the world,
[11]
and the agency
was AdWeek's "Global Agency of the Year" in 2007.
[12]

"It's Mine", Wieden+Kennedy's advertisement for Coca-Cola which aired during Super Bowl XLII in 2008, was
named as the best Super Bowl commercial of the decade byAdweek magazine.
[13]
The magazine also picked
W+K's "Grrr" for Honda as the overall commercial of the decade.
[13]
Meanwhile, Bob Garfield of AdAge added
Wieden+Kennedy's "Go Forth" for Levi's as one of the worst ads in 2009.
[13]

The next year Adweek named them as agency of the year for their work, which included the "The Man Your
Man Could Smell Like" campaign for Old Spice.
[14]

Both Creativity and AdAge named Wieden+Kennedy agency of the year for 2010.
[15]
In 2011, Fast Company
named Wieden+Kennedy as one of the 50 most innovative companies.
[16]

Selected notable campaigns[edit]
Nike[edit]
The "Just Do It." tagline, coined by Dan Wieden, and inspired by the final words of executed
murderer Gary Gilmore.
[17]

"Bo Knows", featuring professional football and baseball player Bo Jackson.
An iconic commercial in which Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho puts on a new pair of Nike shoes and
subsequently begins juggling the ball and kicking it off the crossbar of the goalpost several times, not
letting it touch the ground. This commercial went viral on YouTube and was the first YouTube video to
reach one million views.
Air Jordan ads featuring Spike Lee as "Mars Blackmon".
Charles Barkley's "'I Am Not a Role Model'" ad.
"Revolution", featuring the Beatles song "Revolution".
[18][19]

"Instant Karma", featuring the song "Instant Karma!" by John Lennon.
The "If You Let Me Play" campaign, empowering girls to participate in character-building team sports.
Noted Nike basketball ads starring Penny Hardaway (Li'l Penny), and LeBron James (the LeBrons).
Lance Armstrong's "LIVESTRONG" yellow bracelet campaign to raise funds for cancer research.
"Pretty", featuring tennis player Maria Sharapova.
"Here I Am", 22 stories of confidence through sport, for Nike Women, Spring 2008.
"Write the Future", for Nike Football, Summer 2010.
Facebook[edit]
"Facebook Home" campaign for Facebook Home, Spring 2013.
Coca-Cola[edit]
"The Coke Side of Life" campaign, including "Video Game", featuring a tough-guy video game character
who experiences a change of heart after drinking a Coke (thematically centered upon the video game
series Grand Theft Auto).
"Yours", Diet Coke campaign, as seen during the 2007 Academy Awards.
ESPN[edit]
The "This is SportsCenter" campaign, a satirical look behind the scenes at ESPN headquarters
"Your NBA Destination" campaign, marking ESPN as the destination for all things NBA.
Jingles
"Wavin' Flag (The Celebration Mix)" (Coca-Cola)
K'Naan, 2010
African rapper K'naan's breakthrough U.S. hit existed in a more personal form with lyrics that addressed
growing up in Somalia, but when Coca-Cola tapped him to adapt the song for a "Celebration Mix" with Will.i.am
and David Guetta, "Wavin' Flag" took on a more universal form as a sports anthem. The single has led to a
long-term collaboration between K'naan and Coca-Cola, which donated the $500,000 it received from "Wavin'
Flag" to clean-water programs for schools in Africa through the charity RAIN, at K'naan's request. More than
500 schools benefited.
"Let's Get It Started" (NBA)
Coca-Cola's first Olympic jingle was the result of an 18-month project that saw producer Ronson (Amy
Winehouse, Lily Allen) collaborating with five Olympic athletes around the globe to capture the sounds of their
respective sports and incorporate those noises into a pop song. The project, which was adapted for over 20
territories, features fellow London-er Katy B on lead vocals. The U.S. push for the song included commercial
time as well as custom promos on NBC's coverage of the Games, a Spotify promotion from Ronson's U.S.
label RCA, a national media buy on Ryan Seacrest's "American Top 40." and an installation at Coca-Cola's
own Olympic pavilion.
"My Adidas" (Adidas)*
In many ways, the song that started it all. Originating as a love song of sorts to the band's favorite shoe, "My
Adidas" kick-started the trend of rappers referencing products in songs - often with the hopes that such free PR
would eventually lead to the kind of endorsement deal and national exposure Run-D.M.C. got when the group
appeared in TV ads for Adidas, inked an endorsement deal worth a reported $1.5 million and released their
own custom line of sneakers.
*All songs with an asterisk were not written specifically for an advertiser, but later led to official relationships
with their respective brands.