Dan Gordon Wieden (; March 6, 1945 – September 30, 2022) was an American advertising executive who co-founded ad firm

Wieden+Kennedy Wieden+Kennedy (W+K; earlier styled ''Wieden & Kennedy'') is an American advertising agency best known for its work for Nike. Founded by Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, it is one of the largest independent ...

. A native of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, he coined the Nike tagline "

Just Do It ''Just Do It '' is a trademark of shoe company Nike. The tagline was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting. The founder of the Wieden+Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden, credits the inspiration for his "Just Do It" Nike slogan to a death r ...

Early life

Wieden was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, on March 6, 1945, to Duke Wieden who was in advertising, and his wife Violet. Wieden attended Ulysses S. Grant High School in northeast Portland, where he was on the swim team. In 1966, he married Bonnie Scott (d. 2008), and they had four children. After graduation from Grant, he enrolled at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in Eugene, graduating from its School of Journalism and Communication in 1967.

Career

After college Wieden worked at

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of Tissue paper, tissue, Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, toilet and paper towe ...

, then headquartered in Portland. After time as a freelance writer, he was hired at

McCann-Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in over 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCa ...

, an ad agency where he first met David Kennedy, with that agency handling the Georgia-Pacific account from its Portland office. In 1981, Georgia-Pacific moved to Atlanta, and McCann-Erickson closed their Portland shop, with Wieden moving to the William Cain advertising agency with Kennedy. There, the two started handling the then small

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

account. The next year, on April 1, the two started their own advertising firm, Wieden & Kennedy. One of the new firm's main accounts was Nike, with Wieden coining the "Just Do It" tagline for the sportswear company in 1988. Wieden and David Kennedy were listed as number 22 on the ''

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...

'' 100 ad people of the 20th century. He was named one of America's 25 most intriguing entrepreneurs by '' Inc.'' Berger, Warren (April 1, 2004)
because he's a true independent.
'' Inc.'' Wieden has been Oregon's Professional of the Year, Oregon's Entrepreneur of the Year, one of the world's 50 CyberElite by ''Time'' magazine, and one of 32 members of the One Club Creative Hall of Fame. Wieden was featured in

Doug Pray Doug Pray is an American documentary film director, producer, editor, and cinematographer who often explores subcultures in his films. In January, 2024, Turner Classic Movies , Turner Classic Movies (TCM) released a 6-part series, ''“The Power ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' Art & Copy''. In 2015, he stopped daily work for the company.

Later life and death

Wieden was the founder of Caldera, a nonprofit arts education organization and camp for at-risk youth located in

Sisters, Oregon Sisters is a city in Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,038 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The community takes its ...

. In 1999, he was inducted into the University of Oregon's Hall of Achievement. After his first wife died in 2008, he married Priscilla Bernard in 2012. Wieden died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

on September 30, 2022, in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, at the age of 77.

References

External links

Dan Wieden profile
in 100 ad people of the 20th century.

via

Caldera, a nonprofit arts education organization founded by Wieden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wieden, Dan 1945 births 2022 deaths American advertising executives Grant High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Businesspeople from Oregon Wieden+Kennedy people University of Oregon alumni 20th-century American businesspeople Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Oregon Deaths from dementia in Oregon