Return of the King
Two commercials were shown last night in Cleveland's season opener against the New York Knicks about LeBron's return.
The first one aired earlier this week and shows a shirtless James furiously pumping iron in his high school gym, St. Vincent-St. Mary, in Akron, Ohio. There's flash backs, rock inspired gospel music, and a voiceover, James' mom Gloria saying things like, "This is the city that raised you."
RG/A did a pretty good job with this one but I think it got beat out by Weiden+Kennedy's Nike commercial "Together" that featured right before tip-off. In this one, the message was more about Cleveland and less about LeBron. (W&K was also the same agency behind the Nike commercial "Rise" of LeBron leaving Cleveland for Miami.)
I recently visited Cleveland for the first time about a month ago and literally everyone was talking about LeBron's return and how much it's going to help the city. Whether or not they win a championship this year, Cleveland will still benefit in multiple ways from LeBron coming home. The commercial definitely a struck a chord with the fans and LeBron got pretty emotional too.
Unfortunately, the Cavs lost this one but Cleveland fans shouldn't worry. They have the best player on the planet and surrounded him with a pretty stellar cast. Once this team finds their groove, their going to be incredible watch. Best of all, LeBron's focus is on the city and less on himself.
That message is now displayed for the whole city to see.
