Would the NBA and Nike really allow this to happen?

Getting people's attention is not an easy task. One of the best ways for a public relations practitioner to get someone's attention is to use an unexpected or shocking image. If done properly, an unexpected commercial can attract and retain viewers, create tons of press and make viewers actually remember the image, message or product presented.

In early April, a youtube video surfaced of NBA superstar, Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant. It started out with Kobe and his friends joking around on the roof of some sort of parking garage. He puts his new Nike "Hyperdunk" shoes on and is assuring the cameraman that he "got this!"

Next thing seen is Bryant crouching over in a jumping position. He eagerly rubs his hands together and is clearly impatiently waiting for something. Then in an instant an Aston Martin comes speeding into the screen and Bryant "jumps" over the car. Afterwards he is seen chest bumping teammate Ronny Turiaf in excitement.

Within a few days the video was all over ESPN, Sports Illustrated and pretty much every sports website in existence. If you search for "Kobe Bryant Car Jump" on google over 120,000 hits come back. There are many different videos of the same stunt of youtube. One has almost 3 million views, while others have well over 500,000. Needless to say, it quickly reached millions of viewers.

However, the video is in fact an optical illusion. After watching it in slow motion, it is easy to see that Bryant was in fact simply next to the car as it sped towards him, and he simply jumped as high as he could while the car drove to the side of him. Thanks to the camera angle it appeared that he jumped over the car.

The big topic for debate on such ESPN shows as Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn was how the NBA, the Lakers and Nike would never allow a star-athlete like Bryant to actually perform this stunt had it been real.

The shocking, unexpected nature of the viral video created an incredible amount of publicity for Bryant's new signature shoe line. The idea behind the video was rather simple, but the fact that it appeared Bryant risked his life to pull it off made it that much more memorable.

Pubic Relations - The Ability to Influence

Many people have no idea what public relations really is. I get a confused look when I tell people that I'm a PR major. They just assume it all revolves around press conferences. The simplest way to explain PR is just to say that it is the act of influencing someone or something. This blog will serve as a way for me to relate everyday stories or events to the field of public relations.

After an abysmal start (and finish) to the basketball season, Oregon State University fired current coach Jay John mid season. The Beavers went on to finish the season with a record setting ZERO wins in Pac-10 play.

Ever since the season ended, Oregon State has been searching for a new coach with little success. However, today Oregon State announced that they hired Craig Robinson, the current coach at Brown University. He only has two years experience coaching at the college level, no apparent west-coast ties, and no known knack for recruiting at the division one level. So what exactly does he bring to the table to the Beavers?

His name might not ring a bell to most people, even college basketball fans; however, his brother-in-law is Barack Obama. While Robinson may not have experience coaching at the Pac-10 level, he does have an interesting tie that no doubt influenced the decision to hire him.

So what on earth does this have to do with Public Relations?

This hire will undoubtedly have an influence on the entire Beaver basketball program. Now that Obama is officially "tied" to Oregon State, expect more recruits to consider the program and maybe Obama himself will make a more formal visit to Corvallis than simply stopping for Pizza.