Father’s Day is this coming weekend and Foot Locker has just the sentimental advertisement about fathers and sons to warm your hearts. It also serves as a reminder that not every basketball player has the same story to share about their father and the lengths to which they went to support their kids.
In a brilliant piece of advertising magic, Foot Locker manages to pull the ultimate bait-and-switch with its Father’s Day video of incoming NBA prospects reflecting on everything their fathers did for them along the way. What did potential future stars like De’Aaron Fox, Jonathan Isaac and Jayson Tatum think of the role their fathers played in the development of their basketball skills and burgeoning pro careers? It’s heartwarming stuff.
Then [record scratch] Lonzo Ball shares his special memories of how LaVar Ball helped him get to the NBA. “Of course, there’s that big day when your dad berates your high school coach in front of an entire crowd for not getting you enough touches,” said Lonzo. Even if you are sick of LaVar Ball by now, this is pretty good.
— Foot Locker (@footlocker) June 14, 2017
There’s plenty more where that came from, amongst the misty, sentimental memories others shared of their fathers sacrificing for their sons.
🙃🙂🙃🙂🙃 pic.twitter.com/2MZqc905yF
— ♕ RO PARRi$H ッ (@RoParrish) June 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/wplusp/status/874982928270237697
https://twitter.com/JinxAverage/status/874983322040119296
Kudos to Lonzo Ball for cracking jokes at his father’s expense. At least they can have a sense of humor about LaVar’s behavior, though that has become a signature part of his brand.
We can only wonder now if the Big Baller Brand is going to get a prime spot on the shelves of Foot Locker locations around the country once Lonzo Ball’s signature shoe is ready for the market. Let’s try to enjoy a witty commercial before all of that happens.
Two things:
1. LaVar Ball is a controlling douche.
2. Lonzo can laugh at it and handle just about anything.