There is a long tradition of athletes collaborating with commercial companies on marketing campaigns, and that’s not surprising. Both parties can benefit hugely from the arrangement. Businesses get a boost by associating themselves with a popular athlete, while the athletes further increase their exposure and hence their value when it comes time for a new contract. Since the legalization of sports betting, a new angle has opened up in the genre of athlete commercials. Now, sports betting companies are making deals with former athletes to promote their services. When you’re checking out the
NFL odds, it’s likely you’ll see some familiar faces on the sportsbook home page. Over the years, athlete ad campaigns have become increasingly sophisticated, as companies look for ways to get an edge on the competition. Here are three of the most memorable:
Charles Barkley – Not a role model
The competition between sports manufacturers has always been fierce. Back in 1993, Nike was feeling their brand come under pressure from rivals, particularly Reebok. Their solution was to craft an ad campaign that would shake things up and grab attention. And who better to do that than Charles Barkley, who had been making headlines his whole career. At that time, he was playing for the Phoenix Suns, in the process of winning the NBA MVP award and heading towards a championship showdown with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The origins of the commercial that Nike and Barkley came up with are disputed, but the impact was not. The ad featured Barkley talking to the camera about being paid just to ‘wreak havoc’ on the court and not being a role model. In the world of US sports, this was hugely controversial. Plenty of players and those around the NBA didn’t like the ad, though Barkley, as you would expect, stands by it to this day, and many agree with him. Either way, it got people talking and was a hugely successful campaign.
Tiger Woods – Ball juggler
Tiger Woods has featured in plenty of commercials over the years, but one of the most memorable was the famous
ball juggling ad released in 1999. Like many of the best commercials, it is simple in format, consisting of just 30 seconds of footage of Woods bouncing a golf ball on a wedge, followed by a simple statement, but it has gone down as one of the greatest athlete-sponsored ads of all time. The success of the campaign is all the more remarkable because it was spontaneous. In fact, Woods was shooting for a completely different ad when someone saw him juggling a ball on his wedge between takes. Woods was persuaded to do that same trick on camera, but he added the final touch, which was to send the ball flying down the driving range with his final touch. The ad was so impressive that it was used in place of the intended commercial and had a huge impact. The only problem was that some viewers and experts were convinced that the footage was CGI, so the ad makers went to the lengths of releasing the outtakes from the shoot to prove that it was real.
Bo Jackson – Bo knows
Athletes who excel at two major sports are in an elite category, and Bo Jackson is one of the most famous. A graduate of Auburn, he astonished the sports world in the late 1980s, playing NFL football for the Los Angeles Raiders and baseball with the Kansas City Royals. That dual ability was a huge attraction to brands who wanted to market the all-round appeal of their products. In 1989, Nike came up with the perfect way to show off Jackson’s talents. They were looking for a way to market their cross-train sneakers and Jackson was the perfect fit. He had appeared in ads in which he tries out a different sport, but
Nike took it further. The concept was for a commercial in which Jackson tries out multiple sports, with the tagline ‘Bo Knows’ after each segment. It was a simple idea, but it took over a month to film and it featured cameos from a host of stars, including John McEnroe, Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan. When the
commercial was finally done, there was some debate over when to give it its debut, but an opportunity soon arose, when Jackson earned a spot in the MLB All-Star game in July 1989. Jackson duly delivered, hitting a home run and the ad was a huge hit, eventually ranking alongside some of the genre’s greats. -