Don't be fooled; this ad
came from Apple

After less than 13 months, Nike has divorced its running shoe account from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The account, which included the Nike+ and Nike ID websites, will return to Nike's lead agency, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland.

The Nike/Crispin relationship yielded one lackluster TV ad for the iPod-ready Nike Plus sneaker.

That ran in December. A month later, Nike began exploring new opportunities, notably with agency 72andSunny.

The story broke on AdScam and weaved its way to Adrants and Advertising Age.

Crispin's unexpectedly lax attitude toward Nike, which spends $200 million annually on US advertising alone (via Nielsen), comes as little surprise. Nike has been known to sow its oats among many agencies at once, and Crispin's track record is decidedly imperfect.

Last year it lost the ConAgra Foods account after a panned attempt to reanimate the late Orville Redenbacher in an ad campaign.

But it was recently honored at both One Show and the Clios for its Whopper Freakout campaign for Burger King. In February it won the $300 million Microsoft account, setting ambitious public expectations for the last half of 2008.

Crispin's Alex Bogusky appeared on the front page of Fast Company's June issue beside the hopeful headline, "Can this dude make Microsoft cool?"

Given its failure to convert on Nike, it may be too soon to tell.