Okay, so it's not even Black Friday, but we all know that in this consumerized (I love making words up) age, the Holidays come earlier every year, even if they fall on the same day. That said, it's time for the cornucopia of commercials, deals, fliers and other regalia that remind us to go shopping and screw our credit scores even more. Even with the ills of the holiday season, there are some memorable spots showing up. This particular one is by the good people at Foot Locker. The Christmas season brings a host of new sneaker releases for our feet mouths to water at. We might not always be able to come up with the means to purchase them, so resorting to other methods is always a fresh thing. The 'Reindeer Hostage Plan' is something that I damn sure wish I'd thought of, especially when I got a look at Santa's face at the end. Check out the commercial and start hatching your own plots for Christmas domination...
So... LeBron James has essentially thumbed his nose at the world, especially those talking greasey about him after his announced move to the Sunshine State. Nike clearly has put a lot of marketing dollars into King James. Though they could give two flying Cavaliers about where Bron Bron suits up, it's refreshing to see them take a tongue-in-cheek approach to the controversy. James has tweeted numerous times that he's got a bone to pick with all of the haters and hate that's been flung his way. With the NBA season looming (check out my NBA Season Previews if you haven't already), it's only right that the best player in the world right now would end his silence on such a grand scale. Of course, there still are 82 games to prove the move's worth, but with such a profound statement and the way James has been playing in the preseason, it would be unwise to bet against the King and his court. Check out the best Nike commercial I've seen in a while...
Been saying it for months now. I'd rather have some 'Songs' from Dr. Dre than 'Beats' by Dr. Dre. The wait for his new album Detox has become laughable. Ironically, Dre thinks so too. That's the only reason he would agree to let Affion Crockett annoy him during a trip to the gym with LeBron. In this new commercial for Dre's newest headphone set, Affion takes shots at LeBron about everything from the press conference to a potential rivalry with the Lakers. I've got to admit, this is funny, even though it really didn't make me want to buy a pair of the headphones. Also, LeBron is really about to make a hefty amount of money. Maybe his bid for the first black billionaire isn't as far-fetched as we think. Check the commercial, because I'm sure you've got an opinion of both LeBron and Dre at this point. Hearing Affion's won't hurt...
Every 4 years, the World Cup is played. And every 4 years, we get bombarded with commercials and advertising based around soccer. That's not a bad thing. It would just be cool if soccer got a little more press in those 3 years in between. Commercials like this show us why. Nike brought in pretty much, the most popular football players on the planet for an epic 3-minute spot about those players making their way into history books through game-changing plays. Along with appearances on the pitch from Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery, Cannavaro, and Cesc Fabregas, to name a few, they had Kobe Bryant doing his best Ronaldinho impression after hitting a game winner himself. The action is crazy! I hope Nike and the rest of the world keep the spots like this coming...
Peeped this over at HB... I never say this, but PAUSE
There are certain ways that one can tell if you're a sneakerhead. There's the traditional crab-walk that we use to avoid creasing and rubbed-down soles. There's the ability to spot fakes from a mile away. There's even the sort of 'Spidey-sense' when you know you're sneakers are in danger of being scuffed, so you avoid large crowds and rainy days. Foot Locker has come up with their own demarcation of a sneaker enthusiast, although it's a bit more risque than most. In this new 'Spank' commercial, the guy turns his addiction into a fetish, getting spanked with kicks and identifying them perfectly. I know I'm an enthusiast, but maybe the commercial is taking it a bit far... What do the rest of you sneakerheads think???
I can't deny, this ish is hilarious!! Too bad swagger had to die...
It's funny how terminology and slang can one day be remotely cool, and then the next day, that same slang is played out. I remember the last time I heard someone say 'phat'. I don't think I would to see the day when you, 'swagger', and all your variants (swagg, swagged, swagnificence, swaggerific, etc.) became obsolete. It's funny that you're even slang, considering a good amount of slang aren't even words. I guess that made you all the harder to get rid of. Since around 2006, swag, you've been the word everyone, their mom, pop, aunt, uncle, best friend, cousin and sister used for at least a week. People were changing their Facebook and Myspace names, making up new words (see above) and finding every possible way to include you in their conversations, no matter how out of place you were. Then came these guys:
And these guys, who turned from an already butchered word into a nonsensical idiom...
Finally, these guys turned you out into the whore of a word you are today, though I guess the Grammy's were a dope coming out party...
Let's just say this, swagger... Most, if not all slang, is done in by the same thing that makes slang in the first place: word of mouth. At least in the subcultures that create slang, it catches on like wildfire and soon entire cities (states, regions, etc.) are saying it. You were no different, swag. New York was your birthplace, and as Dip Set videos and songs circulated the mixtape game, everyone wanted a piece of you. Now, you're reduced to being a ploy for Toyota to cater to suburban mothers, minority crowds and people who are late on fads. Auto-tune suffered the same fate, and I have yet to hear anyone use it in a song since (where is T-Pain??). I don't think you'll last as long either, though you'll definitely live on in forgotten Twitter names... RIP SWAG
If you've been watching the 2010 NBA Playoffs (I've been watching religiously), along with being bombarded with commercials, you've seen a bunch of new commercials highlighting how crazy the season and first round have been. The marketing people for the NBA used soundbytes from press conferences, post game interviews, on-court sounds and a few synths to make up Nike Battlegrounds-esque tracks for their commercials. I guess it's one more thing to add to a list of improvements the NBA gone through to bring the game back to prime relevance. And just think, this is just the first round. I can't wait to see what they come up with later on. Kudos to the NBA marketing people...
I've never been one for mixing artery-clogging fast food with the peak of physical activity in basketball, but anytime good old Mickey D's hooks up with the NBA, I will be watching. LeBron has, for the last few years, been the face of the league, while Dwight Howard is another recognizable face in what I like to call 'The New School' of stars in the NBA. The same goes for Dwyane Wade. During this past Super Bowl, all three of the superstars were featured in new advertisements. Dwyane Wade was in a new commercial for his sneaker with Air Jordan, while LeBron & D-12 debuted their new McDonald's commercial. This ad is easily drawing comparisons to the Michael Jordan & Larry Bird commercial from the early 90's. Michael Jordan and Larry Bird had distinct personalities and visible chemistry in their commercial. LeBron & Dwight?? Not so much. Regardless, for every kid that pisses their pants upon seeing CGI dunks, this commercial should wet their whistle. Check out the old-school one, too...
You were the hottest rehashed new trend in music, and in 2005, T-Pain made every dead funk artist roll over in his grave with your use. Auto-tune, most people have no clue how you work, or where you came from, or even what '808's & Heartbreaks' was, but by the end of the Super Bowl, you were dead. By the time the Budweiser Corporation cashes in from the above commercial, no hip-hop artist will step within 10 feet of you. Okay, maybe T-Pain will fiddle with you some more, but he more or less made himself the spokesperson for hip-hop autotune (sad that we can call it a genre now). Regardless, autotune isn't the first hip-hop fad that went mainstream and then went south. You'll probably end up like phat, kickin, bling-bling, maxin, BALLIN!!, and every other piece of hip-hop lore that got popular: in a VH1 special 5 years later.
To be honest, Jay-Z loaded the gun, but Bud Light shot it through your digitally-enhanced sound. 'Death of Autotune' didn't kill you, though it sure signaled the end was near. As soon as Corporate America saw that a star as big as Jay-Z saying your name in a song, it was on like Donkey Kong. Even if he used you in a song and kept it in hip-hop rotation, they would have jumped on you. Autotune, that commercial might have been the end, yet you gave us some of the most memorable songs of the decade (kinda???). Instead of signaling your death with silence (sorry, Jay), I think it's best to remember the tracks that made auto-tune a trend in the first place...
PS: Ron Browz's career should be in the obituary, too...
So what if the sneaker itself looks sub-par? So what D-Wade is nowhere near close to getting back to the Finals with that sorry team of his? When Jordan Brand is backing you, it's pretty much a given that not everything is as bad as it seems. Dwyane Wade's signature sneaker will probably be the Air Jordan 2010 (there seems to be a huge hole in the middle of it) and JB has started off marketing their new cash cow the right way. This commercial is ILL. Check out the 'monster' that the Artist Formerly Known as Flash has become...
Now, I would never rock the Nike Kobe IV's, but with marketing like this, I can see why anyone would roll with these. Nike's been putting out more MVPuppet commercials (I've been late on the ones from this season) and they've been getting more and more ridiculous. These things are what I would expect Kobe and LeBron to say in my own hyperbole-laced mind, complete with random forays into rap and flaming-hot sneakers. Check out the latest two...