如果你要谈广告和营销，你很难不谈一家公司，那就是耐克.
If you want to talk about advertising and marketing, it is hard to skip a company, that is Nike.
而谈到耐克，基本所有人都会想到它那句经典的广告语：Just Do It
When it comes to Nike, nearly everyone will think of that classic slogan: Just Do It.
你可能不知道，耐克曾经也有一段非常痛苦的低谷期，正是这句“Just Do It”拯救了它。
As you may not know, Nike was once in a midst of slump, and it is this slogan “Just Do It” that saved it from sinking.
这句广告出自一家叫 W+K 的著名广告公司，创造这句广告的就是 W+K 的创始人 丹·维登。
The slogan came from a famous advertising company called W+K, and the sentence was created by its co-founder Dan Wieden.
（丹·维登）
这句话的诞生也是一个非常有意思的故事，甚至可以说是充满戏剧性。
The origin of the slogan is a very interesting and even dramatic story.
在讲丹·维登和这句话的关系之前，我们先来说说这句广告的创意来源吧。
Before we talk about the relationship between Dan Wieden and “Just do it”, let’s talk about the origin of its inspiration.
这句充满了正能量的广告语，其实来自于美国的一个著名罪犯，这个人叫 加里·吉尔莫，他曾经因为抢劫并枪杀了两个人而被捕。
The slogan, full of positive energy though, came from an infamous criminal in the United States, Gary Gilmore, who had been arrested for robbing and murdering two people.
值得注意的是，这件事发生在上世纪的1970年代，那时的美国最高法院因为一系列错判的案件而叫停了死刑，吉尔莫因此只被判了监禁。
It is worth mentioning that this case happened in the 1970s when the Supreme Court of the United States stopped the death sentence for a series of wrong-doing cases and Gilmore was only sentenced to imprisonment.
而监狱并没有让他吸取教训，出狱之后的他又犯下了同样的罪行，而此时的美国刚好恢复了死刑，于是他便成为了美国恢复死刑后第一个被处刑的人。
However, he did not learn his lesson. After he was released from prison, he committed the same crime. At that time, the United States just allowed death penalty to return and he became the first person to be executed after the United States had the death penalty reinstated.
这个案件也因此在当时获得了公众高度的关注。
As a result, this case received much public attention at the time.
（加里·吉尔莫）
在执行枪决的前一刻，行刑者问他有什么遗言，他只说了一句话：“动手吧。”
Just before the execution, the firing squad asked him if he had any final thoughts, and he just said: “Let's do it.”
这个案件就是丹·维登在为耐克设计广告时想到的东西。
This case is what Dan Wieden thought of when he was designing advertisement for Nike.
当时的耐克正想切入新兴的女性运动市场，而当时的绝大多数美国女性都还是那种家庭主妇形象，社会对她们的预期也是如此。
Nike was trying to enter the emerging female sportswear market at the time, when the vast majority of American women were still housewives as the community expected them to be so.
所以耐克想用一句广告来激励女性们摆脱社会的枷锁、投入到当时被男性主导的运动领域来。
So Nike would like to use an advertisement to motivate women to shake off the shackles of the community and devote themselves into sports which were then dominated by men.
丹·维登觉得没有哪句话比“Just Do It”更合适了。
Dan Wieden could think of no sentence more appropriate than “Just Do It”.
只不过，现在摆在他面前的还有一个难题，那就是耐克那边的负责人不一定会接受这个方案。
However, there was a challenge in front of him though, that is, Nike’s manager might not accept this proposal.
所以，他就想了个办法来引诱对方选这个他看中的方案：在最终开会的时候，他总共准备好了5个广告语，而他第一个展示出来的是“Just Fuck It.”
So he came up with a plan to induce Nike into taking his proposal: At the final meeting, he prepared a total of five slogans, and the first one he showed was “Just Fuck It”.
在场的客户看到这样一句脏话都惊呆了，等他们冷静下来之后，丹·维登才拿出了这个他真正想推的“Just Do It”
His customers were all shocked when they saw such offensive words, and Dan Wieden waited for them to calm down and then presented “Just Do It” which he really wanted to use.
结果和他料想的一样，耐克喜欢上了这个方案，并且采用了。
Just as he had expected, Nike fell for this program and decided to adopt it.
之后，这轮广告成功地为耐克打造了一个全新形象，迅速提升了品牌知名度和业绩；这句广告语后来也被评为“20世纪最优秀的广告语之一”。
After this round of advertising, Nike successfully created a new image for itself, quickly improving its brand influence and sales performance; this slogan was later named “one of the best advertising slogans in the 20th century”.After this round of advertising, Nike successfully created a new image for itself, quickly improving its brand influence and sales performance; this slogan was later named “one of the best advertising slogans in the 20th century”.
而且，并没有多少人知道这个灵感其实源自一个罪犯。
And few people know that the inspiration actually comes from a criminal.
这都多亏了丹·维登不走寻常路的思维风格。
It all thanks to Dan Wieden’s unusual way of thinking.
或许，我们可以用他自己的一句名言来概括这一切：
Perhaps we can sum it up in his own words:
唯一真正希望你成长的，只有混乱本身。它是那位唯一能让你变得更有创意的朋友。
Chaos is the only thing that honestly wants you to grow. The only friend who really helps you be creative.
完
来源：沪江商务英语（ID：HJ_BizEnglish）
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