On the heels of Kobe Bryant and his teammates recording a PSA after Kobe’s very public anti-gay slur, the NBA as a whole is launching a campaign taking on the same kind of hateful language.
The spot, created by Arnold NYC, GLSEN, Ad Council, NBA and featuring Phoenix Suns players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley (whose boss, Suns president/CEO Rick Welts, came out over the weekend), also features a track from the Beastie Boys called “Make Some Noise” from the group’s recently released, critically acclaimed album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. It’s always nice to see a professional sports association like the NBA taking a real stand against trash-talk, but maybe an “It Gets Better” video might have had a bit more impact? In any case, as the Bulls and Heat play in the most anticipated series of the 2010-2011 season so far, a huge amount of passive fans are probably now just tuning into the playoffs, giving this spot more reach than it would have gotten it previous years. Credits after the jump.
AGENCY: ARNOLD NYC
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: JOHN STAFFEN
SVP, GROUP CD GARY ROZANSKI
SVP, GROUP CD THOM BAGINSKI
ASSOC. CD ARCHIE BELL
COPYWRITER MICHAEL SANTORO
PRODUCER BRIAN SCHIERMAN
ACCOUNT SUP: LAUREN PULWER
ACCOUNT MAN: EVAN GETTINGER
PRODUCTION COMPANY: FRIEDMAN 360
DIRECTOR: EVAN BERNARD
DP: JOE DESALVO
EXEC PROD, MAN. PARTNER: PETER FRIEDMAN
PRODUCER: SANDRA GOLDBLATT