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Athletes Creating Ads

Two NBA athletes, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns and Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors are self-promoting. In an effort to win votes for the NBA All-Star Game, Bosh wrote and shot his own Web commercial in which he takes on the persona of a used-salesman to get fans to vote for him. The commercial, which he created with his girlfriend and his brother, has gained more than 376,000 views on YouTube.

Nash, a two-time league MVP, created his own ad on behalf of Nike. The spot, "Training Day," features the two-time MVP playing basketball, soccer and tennis in his off-season home in Manhattan. The commercial, which displays Nike's trademark swoosh at the end, was directed by Lola Schnabel, daughter of the famous artist and filmmaker, Julian Schnabel.

It's natural in the age of user-generated content for athletes to want more control over how they're portrayed in ads. Letting them produce their own videos could also be a great way for huge brand marketers like Nike to save money. Of course, there are big-time control issues on the marketing side, too, but Bosh's ad, for example, cost just $20 to produce.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

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