It doesn’t show up on Google maps. The building has no signage. General access is prohibited. The Department of Nike Archives (DNA) is Nike’s most fabled location. It contains half a century of priceless artifacts from athletes, designers, and donors. To athletes, sports buffs and sneakerheads around the world, this is a place of legend filled with ‘holy grail’ items.

That all changed when we convinced DNA to open its doors for the first time, and turn its secrecy into a public facing social series called “Destroy: Never”— a name that’s inspired by what’s labeled on the thousands of boxes that fill the shelves inside. Many of which are still unopened, and undocumented…until now.

In each episode we unbox the never-before-seen, and untold stories of Nike artifacts. From Nike’s forgotten superhero mascot “Swooshman” to Serena Williams’ hand-written “Note to self” found in her US Open jacket to the “mechanical shoe” prototype for Nike Shox, these are the stories hiding inside that we knew the internet would go crazy for.

What’s key to this series is the sense of discovery the audience feels as we uncover and resurface these artifacts. It’s core to the archive so we made it core to the content.

So why open the doors now? We recognized a disconnect on social between the brand’s heritage and Gen-Z’s knowledge of it. So we dropped some culture for the culture in a way that was educational—and fun. To up the series’ credibility, we didn’t enlist an influencer; we brought in DNA’s resident cultural MC Robbie Digital to be the host.
 

Prior to this series, DNA existed under a veil of secrecy…

Now, it’s been picked up for a second season.