SAN ANTONIO – While Spurs fans looked up at the sky on Monday afternoon, Nike showed them why they could have been looking at their phones instead.
The company sent out a seemingly innocuous total solar eclipse-related tweet at 1:37 p.m. CST.
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No big deal, right? The tweet read, “The total eclipse has just begun” with a series of emojis and a 45-second video attached.
However, as soon as the video begins, the phrase “Somewhere in South Texas” flashes on screen. At that point, all bets are off.
A grassy field appears and a camera is pointed downward at the field. Then, the camera moves further and further back to reveal a logo no one outside Nike’s corporate offices has seen.
The total eclipse has just begun. 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑 pic.twitter.com/ihGr5mFzai
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) April 8, 2024
It’s an alien drawn within the shape of a basketball flanked on both sides by the classic Nike Swoosh logo.
Nike’s release of the advertisement Monday, while much of San Antonio and the Hill Country were in the path of totality for the solar eclipse, is a nod to its shoe deal with San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama has sometimes played like someone not from this planet this season, averaging 21.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 3.6 blocks per game while also capturing Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for January, February and March.
Wembanyama inked his deal with Nike days before the Spurs drafted him No. 1 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Is Nike’s advertisement at all connected with a potential upcoming release of Wembanyama’s signature shoe? That much is not yet known.
Leave it to Nike to drum up plenty of interest and intrigue before that day comes.