State Farm
”Feelin’ Kinda LeBron”
How do you get ESPN to talk about your commercial on three different shows, giving you nearly seven minutes of free airtime? You get LeBron James to play football.
LeBron was about to be a free agent for the first time and was a highly touted high school receiver so he jumped at the chance to play football for the Cleveland Browns in our State Farm commercial.
We ran a teaser causing some fans to guess that LeBron was releasing a rap album, others that he was retiring and still others that he would be wrestling with WWE.
When the full commercial aired, the buzz only grew. ESPN couldn’t get enough, and outlets like Deadspin, NBC Sports and even Hypebeast got in on the hype. An entrepreneurial store made LeBron Browns jerseys and Kobe Bryant even weighed in on his own football skills.
More than a year later, USA Today asked the Brown’s head coach about LeBron’s football viability — “I think he should come on down.” The Browns should have been so lucky.
The teaser that started the buzz.
“Feelin’ Kinda LeBron” :60
Coverage on ESPN’s First Take, SportsCenter and PTI where they actually get a quote from Kobe on whether he would be good in the NFL, and then on-air personalities debate LeBron vs. Kobe on the football field.
CREDITS
GCD: John Seibert
CD: David Shih
ACD/WRITER: Jonathan Richman
ACD/ART DIRECTOR: Alex Zamiar
ACCOUNT: Veronica Carr
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Liat Ebersohl
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Epoch Films
DIRECTOR: Stacy Wall