As unveiled by Darren Rovell on CNBC Friday afternoon, here’s Blake Griffin’s new commercial for Kia, which was an inevitability after Saturday night’s dunk contest.
VIDEO: Blake Griffin’s Kia Commerical
“Not your average dunk. Not your average midsize sedan. The all new 2011 Kia Optima.”
As Quickish’s Dan Shanoff points out on Twitter, Kia’s spot is essentially just the same video the NBA originally released on Monday, just from a slightly different angle, with different music and a voiceover (watch it after the jump).
What's more bothersome though is that Griffin's dunk, and subsequent Kia commercial, could open the door for other players to feature product placement in the Dunk Contest, or even perform fully sponsored dunks. DeMar DeRozan already had names for his dunks -- it wouldn't be too much of a leap (get it?!) to think that he just as easily could've called it "The Showstopper ... Presented By American Express." JaVale McGee had a new pair of sneakers for every dunk to help promote PEAK, a Chinese shoe company that sponsors him (as well as Jason Kidd and Kevin Love). And Serge Ibaka clearly missed out on a great opportunity to partner with ... Beanie Babies? (Are those still popular?)
If only Gerald Green had thought of this in 2008 -- the cupcake could have easily been replaced by a beignet from Cafe Du Monde.
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