WATCH: Susan Sarandon Uses Inspirational Muhammad Ali Quote at Bernie Sanders Rally — That Ali Didn’t Say
Actress and activist Susan Sarandon roused the crowd at a Bernie Sanders rally with an inspirational quote that she attributed to the legendary Muhammad Ali, but which was actually written by an advertising copywriter.
Sarandon warmed up the crowd at a Sanders town hall in Durham, North Carolina on Friday, and at one point slammed the sort of incremental change favored by Sanders’ rivals.
“And for those who lack the will, the fight, the interest to get it done and say that it’s impossible, I just want to give you one more quote from Muhammad Ali, the great Muhammad Ali,” Sarandon said, then read a quote that has been widely attributed to Ali.
“He said ‘Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. Impossible is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration, it is a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing,'” Sarandon said, then added “and we are going to take that dare and we are going to make that happen, it is happening now, you are going to make that happen, we are going to make it happen together, and Bernie Sanders is going to be the next president of the United States and we will enter the White House with him.”
If that quote sounds oddly familiar yet merely Muhammad Ali-adjacent to you, you’re right. The quote was widely attributed to Ali after his death, and even made number one on ESPN’s list of top ten Muhammad Ali quotes, but it was actually written for a 2004 Adidas ad campaign that you may remember by the tagline that was included in Sarandon’s quote: Impossible is Nothing.
In fact, it was written by a woman, a copywriter named Aimee Lehto (now Aimee Lehto Schewe) who wrote about the misattributed quote shortly after Ali’s death in 2016:
Muhammad Ali was a singular, iconic, inspiring, and brave athlete, activist, and poet. It is sad that he has passed away, but it’s wonderful that the world is revisiting all of his accomplishments and what he stood for. He was right. He was the greatest. And he said a lot of smart, funny, inspiring, and just plain badass things. However, this is not a Muhammad Ali quote. The Impossible is Nothing manifesto was a long copy ad for Adidas, written to introduce the Impossible is Nothing campaign. I know because I wrote it.
In real life, I am a copywriter. Like Peggy and Don on Madmen. I was working at TBWA\Chiat\Day (a partner agency to 180 Amsterdam) on the global adidas account, and it was my job to write a manifesto to help sell the “Impossible is Nothing” tagline and campaign, (which written by Boyd Coyner) to adidas. If it sounds like Ali could have said it, it should. I knew he was the hero athlete for the campaign, so I was writing something that had to fit with that iconic photograph of him towering over Sonny Liston. And lead into Boyd’s amazing tagline.
Despite its corporate origins, the quote does have some soul, and as inspirational advertising mantras go, you could do worse.
Watch the clip above via ABC News.
