Nike began in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports, founded by University of Oregon middle-distance runner Phil Knight and his track coach Bill Bowerman to distribute Japan’s Onitsuka Tiger shoes, which Knight sold from the trunk of his green Plymouth Valiant; the first year brought about 1,300 pairs and $8,000. When the supplier relationship broke down in 1971, Bowerman poured liquid urethane rubber into his wife’s waffle iron to make a sole that gripped artificial tracks. Olympic champion Otis Davis said Bowerman made the first custom pair for him and that he hated them. First employee Jeff Johnson suggested the name Nike, and design student Carolyn Davidson drew the swoosh for $35.

The waffle tread led to the 1972 Moon Shoe and the 1974 Waffle Trainer, and Dan Wieden’s 1988 Just Do It slogan adapted Gary Gilmore’s last words before his execution, Let’s do it. Signing Michael Jordan in 1984 carried the brand into street culture, and the 2017 Vaporfly, with Pebax foam and a carbon fiber plate, improved marathon times by up to 4.2%, leading World Athletics to limit foam thickness and plates. With revenue over $46 billion by 2025 and production in contract factories, Nike has faced scrutiny over factory conditions, offshore structures exposed in the Paradise Papers and inquiries into forced labor in China’s Uyghur region.

• Nike’s first major brand commercial did not show a shoe.
• Using the Beatles song Revolution in a 1987 ad brought a $15 million lawsuit.
• A pair of 1972 Moon Shoes sold at Sotheby’s in 2019 for over $437,000.
• The 2018 Colin Kaepernick campaign drew shoe burnings, then a surge in online orders and a rising stock price.
• In 2019 Nike recalled a Betsy Ross flag shoe after Kaepernick and others objected.