Blake Griffin, the Kia pitchman and Pacquiao
SACRAMENTO, California—Blake Griffin won’t suit up for the 2014 NBA Finals.
After the nightly fever pitch of the playoffs, Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers as well as five other teams fell by the wayside, resulting in a rematch that was a year in the making between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs.
Neither would the 6-10 Clippers power forward join fellow megastars LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker at center stage while the battle for the Larry O’Brien Trophy rages this year.
But Griffin will continue to entertain NBA fans the world over with his acting and second career as a superhero. He stars as a caped crusader dangling from a rope in a hilarious Kia Motors television commercial that likely would play multiple times during the NBA championship.
Griffin became KIA pitchmen after winning the slam dunk contest of the NBA All-Stars weekend in 2011.
His feat—jumping over a Kia Optima for his dunk—was filmed in slow motion and turned into print and TV advertising by the automaker.
Because of the ads, Kia sales vaulted higher, with consumers relating to Griffin as a hardworking guy with a fresh face.
Kia North America scored a slam dunk with Griffin, Charlie Agatep, president of Pasig City’s Havas PR Agatep said in a text message last week.
“Using a celebrity to promote a car is a big question mark,” said Charlie. “If you pick the right celebrity it can boost sales and strengthen the brand.”
But picking the wrong celebrity could backfire, according to Agatep. “Tiger Woods endorsed Buick (cars) on TV, but people did not believe Tiger drove a Buick.”
The Azkals, local football’s heartthrobs endorsed Cortal in a TV spot and yet the pharmaceutical firm that distributes and manufactures the pain reliever “lost millions” because the Azkals “were just a fad,” explained the PR guru. “Basketball and boxing are still our primary sports.”
Though not yet its pitchman, Manny Pacquiao will be the face of KIA Motors franchise when it joins the PBA as an expansion team in October. Could the boxing icon who drives a Ferrari and recently signed up as the team’s coach in the NBA’s Asian cousin convince consumers to buy Kia cars?
Agatep said people won’t select Kia because of Pacquiao’s popularity as the current WBO featherweight champion and a sitting congressman.
Charlie says car products need to be different “in reality or perceptually,” and that “the new car product has to offer a unique consumer benefit. “Buying a car is a rational not an emotional decision.”
* * *
NBI agents have joined the probe into the murder of Arsenio Flores, reports the victim’s sister Lola.
Flores was shot dead by unknown assailants in his Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija restaurant last April 26, a few weeks after Cuyapo Mayor Amado R. Corpus was found guilty and sentenced by the Sandiganbayan to two four-year terms for falsification of public documents.
Arsenio’s initiative led to Corpus’ conviction.
The Texas-based Lola, just returned from Cuyapo is calling on Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. She wonders aloud whether the investigation would be impartial since Corpus remains mayor while appealing his sentence.
Her family has sought help from fellow Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo in urging authorities to look deeper into Arsenio’s death through his public service program “Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo.”
