Bob Peterson Interview
Bob Peterson : When I shot for Nike , I had no idea that forty years later people would still be interested . As I ’ ve gotten older , I ’ ve realized that some of the stuff is part of history . When I was much younger , and I suppose this is true for a lot of people in their 20s and 30s , you just sort of do what you ’ re doing . You try to get the assignment , you try to do your job right , you get your film into the lab , and then you hope the editors are going to like it . I really didn ’ t think any more of it .
There Is No Finish Line
Nike ’ s original ad agency was John Brown & Partners , out of Seattle . The first significant ad that we did together was written by John . The tagline was “ There Is No Finish Line .” Nike used it for years until Dan Wieden came up with “ Just Do It .” That line became the runner ’ s credo , and people really loved that poster . They still contact me today looking for it . The art director was a guy named Denny Strickland . He was tall and gangly . John Brown was a short chain smoker , and I ’ m a rather large photographer . We were at a Nike party in Sun River the night before a race one time , and Denny had a drink in each hand and John ’ s lighting one cigarette off another . A guy came up and asked if we created that poster and I said , “ Yes we did , why ?” He couldn ’ t believe it was us three that created it , but also said it was a very important poster in his life .
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