Charles Barkley Puts In His $2 For Taco Bell During NBA Finals
June 3, 2010: Charles Barkley could get as much air time during the 2010 NBA Finals as the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. Barkley will star in a new spot from Taco Bell to tout a $2 Meal Deal, breaking June 3 on ABC during Game 1 of the Finals.
Barkley also will be seen in T-Mobile ads and as an analyst during sports coverage of the series.
The 30-second spot finds Barkley in his recreation room playing billiards with a friend who is eating a Taco Bell $2 Meal Deal featuring a Beefy 5-Layer Burrito. Barkley shakes his head and says, “That’s terrible.” When the friend wonders what is terrible, Barkley asks, “How’s Taco Bell gonna make money off that?”
The friend responds, “They should get you to promote it.” After a long pause, Barkley enthusiastically agrees, “That’s not terrible.”
Taco Bell will also run the spot in-cinema for one week on 11,151 screens nationwide before such movies as Iron Man 2, Sex in the City 2, Prince of Persia, Get Him to the Greek and Killers. In addition, support for Taco Bell’s $2 Meal Deal includes radio POP, Internet including a dedicated YouTube site and social media activity. Lead agency is Draftfcb, Irvine, Calif.
“The $2 Meal Deal, with 3 items for $2, is a game changer,” David Ovens, CMO for Taco Bell, a division of Yum! Brands, said in a statement. “In the 1993 NBA Finals, Charles scored a triple-double, so he knows about being an NBA game changer. His signature line ‘terrible’ was fertile ground for our creative team to play off of.”
This marks the third ad Barkley has been featured in this year for Taco Bell, with the previous two for the NBA Five Buck Box. Both broke during Super Bowl XLIV in February, one of which also featured Lakers' forward Lamar Odom.
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