About Viral

Kobe’s Ultimatum: Insurance or Shoes

Kobe Bryant’s Ankle Insurance bit is a sure fire hit launching itself over the hundred thousand mark within days.  This newest video from Nike was described best in the comments as having multiple similarities to Dave Chappelle’s skits.  These Jokes start on the other side of ridiculous but are delivered very serious by a calm Kobe.  Add some exploding ankles and text flashing with a loud definitive yell and all this becomes amusing when repeated.

Throw Kobe on a horse and a little Nike distribution magic and you’ve got success.  Nike has a history of succeeding in these things with Ronaldinho’s Touch of Gold reaching millions.  So far Ankle Insurance almost shouldn’t be considered viral until it hits one million and trends from ViralVideoChart.com show the clip to have peaked.  We should come to expect more from the shoe industries market leader but the video is still young.    

The true question here is will it sell shoes particularly the Zoom Nike IV.  Remember, this is a basketball shoe that’s low cut.  Gasp! That’s like telling women if they use regular Dove soap like regular women they are still beautiful.  That won’t work, Unilever has got chapter 11 written all over it.  High ankle support has been the staple of a basketball shoe and Kobe is shaking it up with his soccer background on this one.  Let’s see if the lighter shoe will make its mark on the basketball world.  I know the next time someone gets crossed over by a pair they will be hounded mercilessly to buy some insurance.

Cheers!