Video sharing is a very popular way of creating awareness for consumer products and one of the granddaddy media outlets of them all is YouTube. Recently placed on YouTube was a video of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant displaying his brand new shoe, Nike Zoom Kobe III’s, in an event that would be heard around the world. Bryant along with fellow teammate Ronny Turiaf of the Los Angeles Lakers put his shoes to the ultimate test; taking on a moving Ashton Martin Car to see if Bryant’s new “light as air” shoes allow him to jump over a moving car. Kids are told; drink Gatorade and be like Mike, pump up your shoe and dunk the basketball, and now if you wear a pair of Zoom Kobe III’s, moving traffic is no longer a problem. Is it morally right for Nike to spin a child’s mind to increase their sales? A message to a kid that you can fly by wearing a pair of MJ’s is a little different from you can go out in the street and jump over moving cars, let alone an Ashton Martin. At the end of the video there is no message other than Kobe telling kids “do not to try this at home” (which you can barely hear), but how effective is Bryant’s message after his run in with the law when he was accused of raping an under aged girl?
Any dummy knows this is an effective way of gaining awareness or views on the new shoe line, heck Bryant’s video has already been viewed over 80,000 times, but I don’t think it is safe to spin a young child’s mind that can result in a life threatening altercation. When in doubt, Bryant’s shoes keep consumers zooming, literally.