Capitalizing on the most obvious marketing opportunity, Kia inked Blake Griffin to an endorsement deal after the Los Angeles Clippers star dunked over one of its cars during the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest. Griffin took flight during the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities, taking a lob from Baron Davis and flushing it while jumping over the hood of the car. Shortly thereafter, Kia announced it had signed Griffin to a deal and planned to unveil a commercial featuring the dunk.
Using slow-motion video, Kia set Griffin's contest-winning slam to a dramatic soundtrack with a simple message. "Not your average dunk. Not your average midsize sedan." was the message from Kia, used in the 30-second spot.
Not bad at all. As Shawn Kemp said, though, couldn't Griffin have dunked over a higher part of the car? He did, after all, land on the hood when it was all over with.
Nonetheless, it was still an entertaining dunk contest and Kia stuck with the iron was hot in an attempt to parlay Griffin's success into marketing opportunity. For better or worse, Griffin is tied to the Kia Optima now.
For more videos, check out our 2011 Slam Dunk Contest StoryStream.