The World Runs in Pegasus

The Nike Pegasus is one of the most all-time-hang-it-in-the-rafters legendary running shoes ever to grace the grass, the mud and the pavement. Across four decades, it’s been the go-to companion for countless people across endless miles. For the Pegasus 40, Nike believed it had created the best Pegasus iteration yet, even for those diehards who wouldn’t run in anything else anyway. It was our job to make a big splash in the running world and beyond with the launch.

While it’s true that runners adore the Pegasus and stay loyal to the model year after year and decade after decade, a few of the recent Pegasus’ hadn’t quite cleared the high bar the shoe had set for itself. This was especially true for a sport where habit and routine reign supreme. The Pegasus 40 is more than a return to form, so we needed to communicate that in an authentic way without abandoning the heritage of the shoe.

Let’s let those who have the most insight speak to the magic of this latest Pegasus. Runners know best and those who have been loyal to the shoe for a long time know even better. We created a series of assets leaning on the line ‘The World Runs in Pegasus’ and telling the story of several influential runners’ relationship with the Pegasus just like that—like a relationship. To get our runners in the mindset, we sent out a seeding kit to celebrate the 40th anniversary—heavily nostalgic and inspired by high school yearbooks with Polaroids of previous Pegasus models peering into the past. When we captured the runners running, they described the first time they met, when they first fell in love and how they’ve always been there for them throughout the years.

The result was a tale that goes beyond just an annual new model of a shoe all the way up to speak to the transcendent nature of the Pegasus—good for the long run. This is a real relationship for a lot of people and it’s a story worth telling. And it resonated with the audience. The Pegasus 40 is a hit, drawing in a new generation of runners who can count on it being there for them for decades to come while also giving ever more to those who have counted on it year after year.