Much has been written about the seeming inevitability of a Kobe Bryant/LeBron James head-to-head battle in the NBA Finals. But are advertisers jumping the gun?
NBA viewers have no doubt noticed some prominent ads focusing on the Lakers’ Bryant and the Cavaliers’ James. Nike recently debuted ads featuring Bryant and James as puppets, with two spots debuting the past week and “three or four more … to come.” Meanwhile, a Vitaminwater ad has tapped into the debate over which one of the stars is the better player.
And while the NBA has not created any Kobe-and-LeBron specific ad campaigns, the general consensus in the media is that Lakers/Cavaliers is this year’s Lakers/Celtics — the perfect matchup for which there is no alternative.
With so much anticipation of the dream Kobe/LeBron matchup, it might be easy to forget that both teams have to advance to the Finals first. The dominant Cavaliers may be a shoo-in to the NBA Finals, but the Lakers are 48 minutes away from being eliminated by a starless Rockets squad. If the Lakers are upset either on Sunday, or against the Nuggets in the West Finals, the NBA’s dreams of a highly rated dream matchup could disappear — rendering those Nike and Vitaminwater commercials ironic at best.
All of which may bring back memories of another case of jumping the gun. In 1992, Reebok began a long running campaign focused on decatheltes Dan O’Brien and Dave Johnson. The spots “urged viewers to anticipate a competition between the two handsome young Americans for the gold medal in the decathlon at the Summer Games, which would decide who was ‘the world’s greatest athlete.’” The only problem — O’Brien failed to qualify for the Olympic team. Reebok ended up having to run ads showing O’Brien “[cheering] on Mr. Johnson from the sidelines.”
Of course, Reebok — which “poured $30 million” into its Dan & Dave campaign — likely had more invested than Nike and Vitaminwater do in their respective campaigns. Still, one imagines that puppet Kobe cheering on puppet LeBron from the sidelines is not exactly what anybody had in mind.
