Nike teamed up with ESPN today to release a series of stories about “unbelievable athletes doing unbelievable things,” as - well I’m not sure what it was, but I don’t think I can call it an April Fool’s Joke. Jokes are funny. This is just an April Fool’s Commercial. Each article claims the athlete was able to accomplish the remarkable feat with the help of Nike air shoes. You can see a ticker with all of the stories at the top of ESPN.com.
↵Here are some of the headlines that ESPN and Nike TOTALLY got you with:
Grading Your April Fool’s Post: Nike’s Unbelivable Athletes
↵GET IT?!?!?!
↵Kudos: The funniest part of this prank is to think about the ESPN intern who had to write all these things. He probably thinks he made the big time working for ESPN.com, then he gets assigned a fake article about a mascot becoming a football star. Thinking about the look on his face at that exact moment is the only enjoyment I got out of this whole mess.
↵Critique: Start Over. April Fool’s Jokes are only funny when they are completely and totally outrageous. Something that we look back on and say, “Yeah, I can’t believe I fell for that.” Not something you read and say, “I thought that already happened.” All of these are way too unspectacular to be a good Joke. I mean, “Man Ticketed For Working Out Too Much?” That guy exists. He’s doing dips at your local gym right now. You gotta go way way over the top to make a successful April Fool’s Joke, Nike went under it.
↵Grade: D- ... I just need to see some more creativity. I think Nike and ESPN said, “we gotta sell some shoes, how about an April Fool’s Joke.” For a joke to be successful, humor has got to be the main goal, not marketing.
See More:
