Sometimes a piece of evidence just sends my historian's heart atwitter. I have written earlier at the PhDribble about the change in Lig culture from the Jordan days to today's "Age of Play the Right Way":
"...In fact, Lebrand's handlers and he have crafted an image far different than Jordan's. In the 'I Wanna Be Like Mike' campaign, Jordan was the absent, unobtainable ideal. Highlights flashed, but Jordan-the-man never appeared. He remained clouded in mystery, a super-human force that could only be dreamed of, whose underwear Cuba only wishes he could wear. Conversely, Lebron narrates his newest shoe ad, depicting himself as the humble superstar, the new kind of superstar, the new ideal. He tells the keedz that they can be better than him, that he's far from perfect, that even Lebrand needs to keep working on his skeels. Even as Lebron has become Lebrand, his image has not mimicked Michael's. His image has portrayed a different idea of American virtue: selfless and hard-working..." (Nov 20, 2007)
And now, right on cue, MJs new commercial:
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