If you loved the commercial series with Kyrie Irving as “Uncle Drew” well great news, it’s coming back! Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving signs multiyear deal for more Uncle Drew spots. Irving, who transformed himself into old basketball playing legend “Uncle Drew” for three webisodes sponsored by Pepsi Max, has signed on to make more.
via ESPN:
Pepsi originally signed Irving to a local marketing deal during his rookie of the year season. But Irving became a national star when he executed the role of “Uncle Drew” to perfection. The idea behind the campaign was to highlight that Pepsi Max was a zero-calorie soda in disguise.
The highly acclaimed webisodes, which also have co-starred his new teammate Kevin Love as “Wes,” Maya Moore as “Betty Lou” and Nate Robinson as “Lights,” have garnered more than 50 million YouTube hits on Pepsi’s official channel alone, and millions more elsewhere.
In 2013, the Uncle Drew campaign won the Gold Award in the branded content category at the Addy Awards, the world’s largest advertising competition. The campaign also won the silver in the same category at the Cannes Lions International Ad Festival.
As part of the new multiyear deal, “Uncle Drew” now will be attached to the greater Pepsi brand, and the company is expected to further leverage the character in retail, such as on point-of-purchase displays.
“Fans can obviously see his talent on the court, but ‘Uncle Drew’ validated his talent off of it,” said marketing agent Colin Smeeton, who struck the deal.
With LeBron James and Love joining the Cavaliers, the marketing spotlight is even brighter on Irving. He has a signature Nike shoe being released in January, and incoming Foot Locker CEO Dick Johnson told analysts on an earnings call Friday that “we’re seeing the beginning of what we expect could be a significant Kyrie Irving business in the future.”
As for Love’s character “Wes” or a character of James finding their way into future episodes?
Don’t bank on it.
Love since signed to endorse sports drink BodyArmor, and James gets paid by Pepsi’s competitor Coca-Cola.
