Upon the retirement of future Hall of Famer Shaquille O’neal we @ droppingjaws.com went around the room and spoke about our favorite Shaq commercials and how  his cutting edge commercials has  made athletes more marketable . Here are a couple commercials  submitted by the Dropping Jaws Division:

1)Reebok

Advertising – Any paid form of non personal (i.e. through some medium, such as radio, print, direct mail, or email) presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Shaq spoke on numerous occasion about the professor that told him that “big men aren’t marketable to the masses.”  With  firms spending close $300 billion in advertising expense in the United States and $420 billion worldwide in the late 2000’s, with  this in mind lets dive into art of the pitchman.  Some will say you have to the “IT” factor you know the usual charisma, appealing to the consumer, etc… but if this was so why the billions and billions to execute.  In most integrated marekting communication plans  or ICM plans the public relation and person to person sales process isn’t factored into the initial cost. According to Derreck D. Rucker and Brian Sternthal in the early 1980’s, Reebok (then a small brand by any measure) assumed a leadership position in the athletic shoe market by advertising its greater comfort for women athletes because it was constructed of soft garment leather. With the arrival of Shaquille Oneal, Reebok  was in the process  transitioning  from a company identified principally with fitness and exercise to one equally involved in sports by creating several new footwear and apparel products for football, baseball, soccer, track and field and other sports Reebok made a strategic commitment to align its brand with a select few of the world’s most talented, exciting and cutting-edge athletes. This one of many companies that Shaq has ushered into rejuvinating their brand. TO WATCH THE MAKING OF THIS COMMERCIAL PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK: http://youtu.be/k61_jPr-azM

2) Pepsi Co

In an interview with Ted Sann of BBDO Advertising Age spoke about the change in advertisement  community “Most advertising feeds off popular culture, and film techniques are a critical part of the process.” He later goes on to say “The sheer process of zapping through channels affects young people’s ability to take in more in less time. When asked about the advancement in mainstream flimmaking and cost cutting tatics   Sann said “The less-mainstream stuff is what really pushed the technique: music videos and things like that. Also, the fact that computers have replaced the Movieola in editing has changed the imagery of both films and commericals. Now directors have so many more options they can try. Now you can do cuts and mess around with the film, all in one place.There was one commercial we did with Shaquille O’Neal. He’s in a game and wants a Pepsi. So he runs out of the game and into the TV booth, and ends up in monitors that show him in “I Love Lucy” and “The Honeymooners.” He finally grabs a Pepsi out of a Pepsi commercial, drinks it and goes back to the game.”  When asked why he felt this mean of advertising is necessary Sann emphaszed that “I think young people are very conscious of being marketed to, and they have a keen awareness of what the images mean on several levels. They know what they mean on their face, but they also understand the codes behind them. So what we try to do is offer a surprise.” Once again Shaq is in the front running for innovative commercials. Granted he’s no William “Bill” Sharp, with the retirement of Shaquille O’Neal the NBA doesn’t just loose a great player but a great marketing mind as well. THANKS SHAQ!!!