Tuesday, October 26, 2010

LeBron's Self-Pitying New Ad

Interesting how LeBron takes self-pity and casts it as defiance:



Maybe I'm older, but the reference to the old Charles Barkley commercial is instructive. That 30 seconds wasn't about self-justification for signing a $110 million contract -- and if Barkley's commercial also reeked of Nike myth-making, it was at least genuinely provocative at the time. Nike and LeBron have decided to embrace the whole anti-hero thing here, and more power to them, but it feels (as Bill Simmons would probably point out) like a moment from a pro wrestling script: Hulk Hogan has turned heel! It's an interesting story, but it doesn't mean anything.

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