Pro Sports Ads Intended To Reach Susceptible Youth
Young Patrick Ewing ducks a fight. A high school mathematics wizard attracts a crowd of admirers, most of them NFL stars.
What a year for sports public service advertisements aimed at teen-agers.
The front-runner for year’s best had been Nike’s “If You Let Me Play Sports” campaign in which middle school-aged girls cite statistical ways they are less likely to fall prey to health and societal woes if they participate in sports. It is eerie but effective.
The Ewing PSA (as they say in the trade) hits just as hard. It will air Wednesday during the Warriors at Bullets game on TBS and was produced by the NBA, part of a series of such public-service ads the NBA has been producing the past eight years.
“Patrick’s is really based on a true story, about being different, being from somewhere else (Jamaica),” said Sondra Haley, an NBA spokeswoman. “It hits close to home, that push in the halls.”
Hearing Ewing say, “In front of everyone, I walked away,” would benefit a lot of misguided people.
An even more important ad is the United Negro College Fund’s spot with the math superstar.
The players convey their admiration for this role model without a smirk.
“Man, is he fast,” says Leslie O’Neal of the San Diego Chargers as the kid solves a complicated equation.
“That’s his 10th completion in a row,” marvels Pellom McDaniels of the Kansas City Chiefs.
The ad, an outgrowth of a $1 million scholarship fund 50 NFL players generated for the UNCF, has been airing sporadically during NFL games, including the 49ers’ Monday night game this week. Although it won’t air in the Bay Area this weekend, it is likely to show up on NFL games during the playoffs.
Be on the lookout. Seldom has an ad better reflected the way things ought to be.