Won’t someone think of the Latvians?!
W+K New York launched a new spot starring New York Knicks power forward/center Kristaps Porzingis, promoting the network’s Christmas Day NBA coverage of the Knicks versus the Boston Celtics.
The spot features Commissioner Santa calling Kristaps from the commissioner’s office, attempting to communicate with the Knicks star in his native Latvian. Tablet in hand, Santa manages to say “Kristaps! Hello!” but struggles when the conversation moves beyond the greeting phase.
This may not be the absolute best of W+K New York’s very consistent “This is SportsCenter” work for ESPN, but the spot is still charming.
It manages to hype the Knicks’ 2015 first round pick while also incorporating Santa into the promotion of the Christmas Day game in a lighthearted way. It’s just the first spot in the campaign promoting the five NBA games that will run on ESPN and ABC on Christmas Day, so we’re intrigued to see what W+K New York has dreamt up for the other games.