When Nike Lost Some of Its Coolness

Posted by Phineas Upham

In the article “The Swoon of the Swoosh,” Timothy Egan writes about the Nike brand during one of its most challenging years: 1998. According to the article, it was the year that the swoosh was giving off bad vibes. Members of the cult Heaven’s Gate were wearing the sneakers before they committed suicide, a victim of a school shooting that year was wearing Nike head to toe when he died, and even O.J. Simpson was photographed wearing the brand.

The article describes a time when Nike was a household name, and although it seems that such an achievement for a brand should be celebrated, the fact that the swoosh logo was on nearly everything under the sun backfired for the brand. Gordon Thompson, Nike’s lead designer, said in the article, “Hard to believe. But the swoosh has been a stand-alone logo for only four years. We were growing and growing and growing here in Beaverton, and I guess we didn’t totally realize what happened to this thing that was supposed to be just a sports logo.”

Kids no longer considered the swoosh “cool,” and a growing number of people were upset about the brand’s manufacturing practices overseas. The article covers Nike’s various marketing struggles, including the time it changed its famous slogan, “Just Do It.” One of the ways the company tried to overcome the problems was to create new ways of branding.

How did Nike lose its “coolness?”

Read the entire article: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/13/magazine/the-swoon-of-the-swoosh.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm