It has been a while since we saw Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger get some commercial love. For several years advertisers steered clear of Big Ben in the wake of the 2008 allegations.
If this week’s broadcast of Thursday Night Football is any indication, that’s starting to change.
Nike debuted an awesome ad during the game, which features Roethlisberger throwing snowballs like rockets, plus cameo appearances by Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell.
Even though the commercial starts out with the intolerable Rob Gronkowski, it’s worth sitting through to the end, trust me. Here’s the full two-minute clip, courtesy of Nike’s Youtube channel.
Here’s a few random thoughts: Gronkowski has an enormous head. Ndamukong Suh is a scary, large individual. Dropping the music when he appeared was a nice touch.
I really like the ad (who wouldn’t?) but I’m not sure if we can really call this effective advertising. Buying a new pair of Nikes every now and then is all fine and good. However, after watching it all I want to do is play football in the snow the way only kids (and every once in a while NFL players) do.
The most watchable game I can remember over the last few seasons was played between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions in the dead of winter.
Great fun.
Back to the wonderful, enriching part that marketing plays in all our lives, though.
What makes this commercial so special is that it also happes to come with its own exclusive behind-the-scenes video that’s even longer than the ad itself.
Check it out, or skip ahead to 2:00 to see Antonio Brown reveal who he most wants to hit with a snowball:
Marvelous.
As for Roethlisberger’s status, he has been officially cleared to play on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. He will be joined by both Bell and Brown for the first time this season.
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