LeBron James: Will His New Commercial Help Or Hurt Him With Fans?
LeBron James' newest Nike commercial debuted yesterday, and it's already creating major waves in the sports world. In it, James challenges his doubters, saying "Who should I be?"
The ad is sparking debate across the basketball world, and even here, on B/R, people are talking about it. Did LeBron help his reputation amongst fans, or do further damage to it with this commercial? Here are five reasons LeBron helped his reputation, and five reasons LeBron hurt his image.
See Full Commercial on Slide 12
Why It Helped No. 5: Everybody Loves Don Johnson
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Don Johnson is an American icon. For a guy like LeBron, a guy who could really use a PR boost right about now, it was a brilliant strategy. Putting Crockett in your commercial instantly helps your popularity; that's just a fact of life. You can't help but love Crockett.
Why It Hurt No. 5: Second Banana
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Did you catch the Miami Vice piece in there? LeBron is Tubbs, the quintessential second banana. That makes Dwyane Wade into Crockett, the unquestioned alpha dog.
One of the reasons people quit on LeBron was because he they believed he wasn't cut out to be the alpha dog.
As Tubbs, it's clear that he's second banana, and happy to be that. You think Jordan would have played Tubbs? Nope.
Why It Helped No. 4: The Charles Barkley Factor
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Speaking of beloved American icons, Sir Charles falls squarely on that list. Goofy comments and his love of Krispy Kreme donuts have made Chuck a beloved figure, something he never was during his playing days.
By sending love to Chuck, LeBron is once again tying himself to someone it's hard for Americans to hate.
Why It Hurt No. 4: The Charles Barkley Factor
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Pop quiz everybody: how many rings did Charles Barkley win? Exactly. Probably not the best idea to associate yourself with that, LeBron.
Why It Helped No. 3: LeBron Is Fighting Back
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It's good to see LeBron not taking the criticism levied against him lying down anymore. I realize this is a commercial to sell shoes, but if you watch closely, you can hear the slightest hint of edge in LeBron's voice.
He's not a good enough actor for subtlety like that, so you know it has to be real emotion. He's tired of being ripped, and he's not going to take it anymore.
Why It Hurt No. 3: The Race Card (Again)
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What was that bit of poetry LeBron used in the commercial? It wasn't just something they made up for the purposes of selling shoes. It was an excerpt from Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise." Aside from the deplorable fact that one of the greatest poets in American history was just used to sell shoes, it also shows that LeBron is still playing the race card.
It is a poem about the plight of African Americans being beaten down during the civil rights movement. She is saying that African-Americans are stronger than the hatred they face, and will over come and rise above it.
LeBron has seen racism, but not anything near the kind of things referenced in the poem. To claim otherwise is foolish, and if LeBron thinks he's experienced anything close to the kind of hate Angelou and the other civil rights poets saw, it's an error that makes "The Decision" look like putting the wrong kind of underwear on in the morning.
Why It Helped No. 2: His Legacy Isn't Tarnished
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For whatever reason, there are those who thought that LeBron's legacy would be tarnished by jumping to the Heat.
It's about time someone called them on their crap. Sure, jumping to a better team is a cheaper way to win than pulling a Kevin Garnett and staying with the same moribund franchise for most of your career. But Garnett left Minnesota eventually, to, guess what? Chase a ring. LeBron didn't want to be his generation's Kevin Garnett, so he got out of there.
At the end of the day, people will forget how he left Cleveland, as long as he wins in Miami.
Why It Hurts No. 2: Focus
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LeBron and his team clearly put a lot of thought and effort into this commercial. It's clear he focused pretty heavily on it during the offseason.
But if LeBron spent so much time working on this commercial, when did he have time to keep working on his game? If he's so motivated to prove the doubters wrong, perhaps LeBron should have spent less time coming up with a clever commercial, and more time playing basketball.
Why It Helps No. 1: He's Right
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Here's the thing about this commercial: LeBron is absolutely right. Part of the reason we are mad is because LeBron isn't who we want him to be. We wanted him to win a title in Cleveland; we wanted him to stay with the team who drafted him.
We wanted him to be the kind of star we expected him to be, not the kind he thinks he should be. Perhaps, it's time we start looking at it from his point of view.
Why It Hurts No. 1: He Still Doesn't Get It
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If we learned anything else from LeBron James' new commercial, it's this: he still doesn't understand why people don't like him anymore.
Part of it is that he didn't make the choice we wanted him to make, but he's not the first star to do that, and we've forgiven the others who did.
It's the way he announced the choice. By choosing to stab Cavs fans in the back on national television, LeBron proved he either doesn't care about fans or doesn't know how to relate to them. Either way, this commercial just reinforces that James doesn't seem to fully grasp why everyone turned on him so quickly.
He thinks it's racial, thinks it's because he's not who we want him to be, but doesn't realize it's because he didn't seem to realize the implications of making the "wrong" choice on national television. After all, it's inconceivable that we dislike James because of something he did, right?
And that's the biggest reason why this commercial doesn't help LeBron's reputation with fans: it reinforces the fact that he just doesn't get it.
The Commercial
11 of 11This is James' commercial. In typical Nike fashion, the commercial talks about the product for only a few moments, and we only see it for a split second.
