Skip to content
MovieViral.com
MovieViral.com

The Latest Viral News for Films and Beyond!

  • Home
  • Archives
  • Movie & Viral News
    • Cloverfield Sequel
    • Reviews
    • Trailers Weekly
    • Past Viral Campaigns
  • About
    • About MovieViral
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact
  • ARG & Unfiction Forum
MovieViral.com
MovieViral.com

The Latest Viral News for Films and Beyond!

Not Like Mike: The Jordan-Utah Flash Fiasco

Alex Gerage, December 11, 2009

In what may be the first major viral marketing event in the history of sports (at least to my knowledge), the NBA Developmental League’s Utah Flash is reaping the success (and failure) of an elaborate campaign. Ryan Corazza has the scoop at ESPN. Apparently, Flash flans were under the assumption they were going to see Michael Jordan and Bryan Russell play a one-on-one basketball game at halftime of Monday’s game to benefit charity. It would be a rematch of the final seconds of the 1998 NBA Finals.


The problem was that Jordan never said he would do it. The other problem was that he never said he wouldn’t do it. So this past Monday, after the local paper reported seeing Jordan around town, the buzz began. A video of him surfaced on YouTube eating at a local establishment. A record crowd showed up to the Flash’s home opener to see the halftime festivities. There, they learn the truth. The man being reported as Jordan was not like Mike.


Jordan



The event had been staged. The faux MJ.  The YouTube video.  The planned pickup game (to be fair, an invitation was extended to Jordan, but he never replied). It was all the plan of Flash owner Brandt Andersen to sell tickets and drum up interest in his team. Did it work? Yes, but not without angering the already pocket sized fan base. He’s since apologized on his blog and offered refunds. 


For those that measure the success of a viral by the amount of publicity that is generated, good or bad, then the Flash’s undertaking is a massive success. The story made the front page of ESPN.com earlier in the week, and the YouTube video of the phony Michael Jordan now has over 300,000 views. Word has undoubtedly spread, and if you ask one to name just one NBA D-League team, I would bet they would say the Flash. For those that believe a viral is only as successful as its end result, then the embarrassment and disdain many feel towards owner Brandt Andersen is fitting.


Here’s a video of the crowd finding it out it’s a hoax.





I want to know what you think though. Would you consider this viral successful? Or do campaigns need to have a worthy payoff? Let us know below.

Viral Marketing

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Viral Video: “The Walking Dead” Is Mostly CGI

April 18, 2011

We’ve shown you in the past how television uses a lot more computer graphics and green screens than you’d expect to bring the show’s world to life, but you might be surprised by how digital the world of AMC’s The Walking Dead is. Even the flies were CGI! After the…

Read More

New “Office” Halloween-Themed Webisodes Premiere Online

October 29, 2010October 29, 2010

Just in time for Halloween, NBC has posted the entire new webisode series for The Office called “The 3rd Floor”. The three part series is the culmination of a pretty enjoyable month long campaign that centered on office slacker Ryan Howard and his latest ambition of directing a low budget…

Read More

“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries” DVD Kickstarter Is Over 600% Funded With 2 Weeks Left

April 8, 2013April 9, 2013

Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice, premiering on YouTube. The series ended just over a week ago after 100 episodes, and now the production company Pemberley Digital is in the midst of a…

Read More

Comments (2)

  1. Robby says:
    December 11, 2009 at 4:00 pm

    Haha! I was there!

  2. Ryan says:
    December 12, 2009 at 7:46 am

    It was a cool idea but definetly didn’t pay off very well.

Comments are closed.

Coming Soon...

Join the MovieViral.com
ARG & Unfiction Forums



©2009-2025 MovieViral.com. The Sometimes Weekly Publishing Company.