Commercial Appeal

There aren’t enough words or enough MB of space on this blog to explain what Michael Jordan could do on a basketball court. There were times I wondered if he was human (see The Flu Game), and there were times I wondered if the word “quit” was in his vocabulary. He pulled the Bulls onto his back more times than I can count and made them believe in hard work as a means to an end. All along the way, he built his Jordan Brand empire at Nike known as Jumpman 23. During the NCAA basketball season you can see little Michael Jordan’s embroidered into jersey’s across America, and his annual Air Jordan shoe release (this year is #23) gathers more press than Christian Louboutin could ever hope for.

Over the years, the Jordan Brand has produced some great commercials with Michael doing the narration on the ones that have a voice over. I’m a sucker for a good commercial. Make me laugh or make me cry, and I’ll consider it a great commercial. But, give me chills and you’ve won me over completely. The latest series of Jordan Brand commercials is called BECOME LEGENDARY. In each one, Michael talks about a different aspect of a person’s game: remembering how far you’ve come, overcoming obstacles, hard work and preparation, and not giving excuses. I don’t know how many more there are, but right now there are four, and I have included them below. The last one I saw for the first time on Friday night during SportsCenter (oddly enough right before ESPN came back from commercial to report on Tyler Hansbrough returning for his senior season). It gave me chills. Note the part near the end when you realize that Michael is talking to a group of what appear to be high school basketball players. Note especially, the kid who swallows hard. That’s how I felt when I saw it for the first time and immediately picked up the phone to call my mother.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE SHOES

LOOK ME IN THE EYE

CLOCK TOWER

MAYBE IT’S MY FAULT