Year Old Nike Ad Featuring Kobe Bryant

In this ad by Nike for Kobe's shoe that debuted in March 2008 there is not really any hard sell. They don't spend any time raving about the quality of the shoe, Kobe doesn't try to lead us on to make us believe that they make him a better player, it's more of a laid back just in the life of Kobe type commercial that goes away from the typical format. He does however try to make it seem like the shoes are the reason why he's able to jump over the Aston Martin, but it's mostly comical as the clip is edited and not actually real.

The only thing that could be perceived as a soft sell in this ad is the including of an Aston Martin. They could have chosen any other car in the world to use in this clip, Nike has the funding, but they decided to go with the Aston Martin. It's mention and inclusion in this clip is very short, and it's not really with any kind of intent to get people to go out and buy the car. If anything I think they just wanted to go with a high brand of car, and Aston Martin was their choice. I don't think much more thought went into it than that. Maybe there's some connections through ownership with the two companies, or Kobe may even drive one.

This ad appeals to people's sense of excitement. Watching the clip for the first time I know many people thought that it was real because they did such a good job editing, but they use an impressive stunt to try to draw people in. Also the inclusion of Kobe appeals to people's sense's of success. At the time Kobe was leading his Lakers to the top of the Western Conference and was one of the hottest players in the league. He sells, people want to be like him and have the stuff he has, and that's why Nike included him in this ad.