Advertising Legend Dan Weiden Passes Away At 77

Design a tagline that sticks in the mind of the consumer and can be easily recalled. And one such famous tagline of Nike was, "Just Do It." Do you ever wonder who is the creative genius behind this? It was the advertising legend, Dan Weiden, who always thought outside of the box and gave the advertising industry a new creative definition. 

On 30 September, 2022, the creative guru, at the age of 77, passed away. His company, Wieden+Kennedy, released an official statement after his death, mentioning that they were heartbroken by the loss. They have overcome with gratitude and love and have thanked him for allowing people to live up to their potential. They are grateful for his steadfastness, courage, faith, and abiding love. He will be missed a lot.

He was born in Portland in 1945, a native Oregonian who had completed his education at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication in 1967. Before entering into the advertising world, he had gained prior experience in public relations. He had his roots connected to the advertising sector, as his father was in the business with Gerber Advertising. He began freelancing in the commercial sector, quickly realising that he had a flair for it. 

Taking a step in this direction, the architect co-founded the ad agency, Weiden and Kennedy, with his late partner, David Keneddy, in 1982. In time, the agency would go on to create advertising campaigns for companies like McDonald's, Bud Light, Target, Levi’s, ESPN, Coco-Cola, Honda, P&G, Electronic Arts, Nokia, and Old Spice that are known to most people. 

But the company earned its recognition worldwide when they crafted a tagline for a recognisable brand, Nike. The tagline was "Just Do It." It had created a huge buzz and had appeared in a TV commercial in 1988. 

Spreading their footprints across the globe, they have set up their offices in Delhi, New York, London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Shanghai. 

His ad agency is always intended to be independent and creatively driven. Many awards were bestowed upon him for his advertising work, which included Oregon's Entrepreneur of the Year award and he was on Time Magazine's list of 50 Cyber Elite. He was also involved with his alma mater's Hall of Achievement. 

Another noble initiative taken by him was the founding of Caldera, an Oregon-based educational nonprofit for young people in Sisters.