After some YouTube diving and writing about Allen Iverson’s crazy spin-move-crossover Reebok commercial a few days ago, it’s only fitting that I share my favorite non-Michael Jordan sneaker commercial of all-time: Godzilla vs. Barkley.
I was probably the perfect demo for this Nike spot back in 1992. Barkley was an NBA legend at that point and my 11-year-old self from the suburbs of Philly thought he was a total badass.
Then Nike came along and had him dunk on Godzilla in the streets of Tokyo. It was amazing. Right down to the Kurt Rambis goggles that Godzilla puts on.
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Here’s something I didn’t know until today: The commercial led to an actual Godzilla vs. Barkley comic book being made. You can purchase it on Amazon for $64.99.
Much more on the comic right here.
One thing I didn’t recall from back in ’92 is that there was apparently a trailer for the commercial that aired during the 1992 All-Star Game. You don’t see sneaker companies doing that anymore.
NBA
And here’s one more Barkley-Nike related anecdote: My CYO football team played a game at Veterans Stadium for the Parade of Champions when I was in seventh grade, circa 1993-1994. Us kids were told to wear sneakers to play on the turf, not spikes. I went out a week or two before our game, and my parents were generous enough to purchase me a brand new pair of Barkley Air Max kicks. They were fresh and worked great for playing on that turf. Here’s the sad part — following the game — they had green stains on them from that crappy turf that never fully came out. Sad.
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