According to Mike Tyson, the most famous ear-eating (convicted) rapist in America, he got into boxing because getting beat up looked like fun. Okay, earning the title of “The Baddest Man on Earth” and tattooing nearly half of your face might not make you the most reliable narrator. But, as I learned from a recent episode of Ellen I watched with my mom accidentally saw part of when I was robbing an electronics store, when Iron Mike talks, people listen. In this spot for “Fight Night Champion,” it’s hard to look away.
And, good for EA and the agency behind the 7-minute spot, San Francisco-based Heat, for realizing that in a world where MMA makes professional boxing look like croquet, the sport needs someone like Tyson around to keep breathing his brand of brutality into young fans. On EA’s YouTube channel, a series of videos featuring Tyson, Tommy Morrison and Joe Frazier have a 17+ Mature rating and an age lock as the athletes talk about the “dark side of boxing.” Tyson’s video might start tame, but around the 4:45 mark, he uses graphic detail to talk about his time in prison.
It might seem like an odd tactic for moving copies of a video game. But, when you consider that Mayweather v. Mosley doesn’t carry nearly the weight as UFC’s Velasquez v. Lesnar, it’s time to step up your game. That’s probably why Heat turned to the notorious cultural bad boys at Vice to take over editing the spots. Credits after the jump.
Heat credits:
ECD Steve Stone
CD Warren Cockrel
ACD Nei Caetano
AD Jesse Bowen
CW Rob Leon
Editorial co:
Vice, Brooklyn, N.Y.