Does Kyrie Irving Find His Groove in This Nike Ad?

I’m from Akron, which is 40 minutes south of Cleveland. Needless to say, the name Kyrie Irving is not the most popular in this neck of the woods. However, one can’t deny his basketball skills. Dude’s a baller on the court, and with his Kyrie 4 ad he tries to be a baller off the court too.

If you pay attention to the NBA, you know Kyrie Irving made some headlines in 2017—from his flat earth statement to his Christmas dis. But the biggest headline was his departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers. It started with a trade request and then he was shipped off to Boston. I could spend several articles detailing the hullabaloo, but I’m here to talk about Irving not as a ball-player but as an ad maker.

In “Find Your Groove”, Irving directs himself to advertise his and Nike’s new line of shoes, Kyrie 4, to chaotic and mildly amusing results.

Some Good

Here’s what was well-played about his ad…

1. Self-Depreciation – Whether he believes what he says or not (some of which I take issue with), I respect Irving’s ability to make fun of himself. Though this ad was all over the place thematically, I appreciated that it never took itself or its star too dramatically. It was kinetic and lighthearted, which compared to other shoe ads was a refreshing approach … I guess.

2. Visuals – I can’t say for sure, but I’m almost positive Nike outfitted Irving with a darn good film crew. It showed. I have nothing against Irving when I say this, but I wonder how much direction he provided in the visual department—lighting, color scheme, production design, etc. All were done well, albeit fast and chaotic.

Some Bad

Here’s where the ad dropped the ball…

1. Messy – Though it looked good and the moments of self-depreciation cracked the occasional smile, this was 60 seconds of mess. It jumped all over the place and had quips that the viewer would only understand if they religiously followed the NBA and Kyrie Irving. From the flat earth comment, to levitating, to the wardrobe change and all the way to the plant-based diet comment, I found the ad overwhelming and scatterbrained, making it hard to keep up, and this was only about new shoes! Also, for someone who follows sports quite regularly, some of those comments sailed over my head and I had to research them to find out what they were about. Finally, it was a little too much about Irving rather than his shoes.

2. Self Promotion/Branding – This piggybacks off my last point. I felt this was less about the shoes as it was about Kyrie Irving himself. Outside of the close-up of the shoes, I forgot about the footwear message entirely as I was bombarded with Me Moments of Kyrie. This is not a jilted fan comment here because I have no favorite pro team. This is just a comment in general about the modern-day athlete. It’s all about them and their brand. To a vast majority of them, the “m” in team stands for me. This ad illustrated that.

3. Flat Earth – It’s not funny. I don’t know if he believes in it or not, but regardless, it is not funny. It is concerning people think that. It is nothing to laugh about.

The Takeaway

It looked good. It cracked the occasional smile. However, that was it. Nike and Kyrie Irving’s ad, “Find Your Groove”, was messy and chaotic and seemed more preoccupied with Irving himself, rather than the footwear he and Nike were advertising—which disenfranchised this viewer from the commercial and more importantly, the shoe.

It’s a shame too because I need new basketball shoes.