Nike SB has returned with a bold campaign built around its new Nyjah 4 sneaker, featuring skateboarding star Nyjah Huston in a spot that blurs reality and imagination while staying rooted in authentic skate culture.
Created by Portland-based independent agency Thesis, the ad opens with Huston missing a trick, which sends the viewer into the “universe inside his mind.” A fast-paced montage follows: Huston skating at full speed, riding motocross in the desert, sprinting through a forest, and DJing in a nightclub. The sequence culminates back in reality, where he finally lands the trick.
The concept was designed to “humanize” Huston while keeping credibility with the skateboarding community, a group notoriously sensitive to inauthentic branding. “Skaters can spot fakery from a mile away,” explained Thesis chief creative officer John Agnew, himself a longtime skater. “It’s how you hold the board, how you shoot it — if you get it wrong, you lose credibility instantly.”
Working with a tight budget, the Thesis team relied on creativity and connections, producing what they describe as a “Terrence Malick on mushrooms” visual style. Agnew and chief brand officer Benji Wagner co-directed the piece with director of photography Nicholas Woytuk, ensuring both cinematic ambition and skateboarding authenticity.
The soundtrack plays a pivotal role. Rather than default to traditional EDM, Thesis collaborated with Chances With Wolves to create a layered track using a Shepard tone — a sonic illusion popularized by filmmaker Christopher Nolan — to give the sense of perpetual ascent and momentum.
For Nike SB, the campaign signals a reassertion of identity after years under Nike’s broader sportswear umbrella. For Huston, one of the sport’s most polarizing but undeniably iconic athletes, it’s a chance to show not just his technical mastery, but his personality and cultural influence beyond the skatepark.
